


Hey Gorgeous

by Quickspinner



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - No Miraculous, Buff Marinette Dupain-Cheng, Campus Delivery Boy Luka, Endgame Luka Couffaine/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, F/M, Flirting, Flirty Luka, Fluff, Marinette with a stutter
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-10
Updated: 2020-01-01
Packaged: 2021-01-27 04:56:52
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 36,703
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21386470
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Quickspinner/pseuds/Quickspinner
Summary: Every Friday Luka parks his bike in front of the freshman dorm and trades banter with a pretty blue-eyed regular he's nicknamed Gorgeous. She's funny and cute and he's maybe a little bit smitten. It's just a little harmless flirting, though. It's not like you can fall in love two minutes at a time, once a week.
Relationships: Luka Couffaine/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug
Comments: 128
Kudos: 953





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This idea popped in my head while I was stuck on Second Chance and I wrote it as kind of a palate cleanser. Enjoy!

Most of the time, Luka enjoyed his job. He enjoyed the physical activity of pedaling around the beautiful campus, and he enjoyed letting his mind wander in between deliveries. It relaxed him and gave him time to work out melodies or problems or just to contemplate whatever thought was stuck in his brain. Even when the customers were a pain, which was often, the bad days were bearable, and when the weather was nice it was downright enjoyable no matter what people said to him. After all, Luka was pretty good at letting shit go. 

Today the weather was not nice. The school year had just begun and summer was still hanging on, there wasn’t a cloud in the sky and it was _hot_. He had a hard time imagining who would even want to eat pizza in this heat, but he tried not to let his exhaustion show as he pulled up in front of the steps of one of the freshman dorms.

The girl sitting on the steps stood up and came down to meet him. Luka flashed her a smile as he got off the bike to retrieve her pizza. He couldn’t help an appreciative glance out of the corner of his eye. Dressed for the heat in shorts and a tank top with her blue-black hair piled on top of her head, a few wet strands sticking to her neck, she was built like a dancer, lean but strong. He turned to her, pizza in hand, and his stomach did a little flip. She was..._really _ cute, damn, with big blue eyes and freckles and sweet pink lips. God what he wouldn’t give to meet a girl like her at a gig instead of on the job, worn out and covered in sweat, smelling like an ever-so-appealing combination of pizza and teenage boy (technically he wasn’t a teenager anymore as of a couple months ago, but he still smelled like one). “Hi,” he said, glad his breathlessness would be attributed the bike. “This for you?”

To his surprise, instead of taking her pizza, she looked up at him and frowned. “You look hot,” she said, and then her eyes widened. “I mean, y-y-you’re s-sweaty. N-n-not to be r-rude, but—“ She made a frustrated noise and buried her face in her hands. Then she looked up and held up both pointer fingers. “W-w-wait h-here!”

She ran inside, leaving Luka standing there in confusion, still holding her pizza. He glanced at his phone nervously, wondering how long he could afford to wait before he had to go on, but before he got really worried she was back again, running down the stairs with a couple of water bottles in her hands. 

“Here,” she said, only barely out of breath from the impromptu run, shoving the two bottles into his hand, taking the pizza with the other. Surprised, Luka nearly dropped them, but managed to get a grip on both bottles with his long fingers, despite the condensation quickly gathering on them. They were ice cold. His benefactor has already turned and was halfway up the steps by the time he had dropped one in the basket of his bike and cracked open the other. It tasted heavenly and he was sorely tempted to dump half of it over his head. 

“Hey, gorgeous,” Luka called without thinking. She turned, wide-eyed, cheeks pink, and he held up the water with one hand and gave her a two fingered salute with the other. “Thanks!”

She smiled, and hurried back inside. Luka took another drink and then twisted the cap back on, dropped the water in the basket of his bike, and pushed off to get back to his deliveries, smiling broadly.

* * *

Luka grinned like an idiot on Friday afternoon when he saw the same dorm address in his list of deliveries. Of course it could have been someone else, there were a lot of people in that dorm, but a guy could dream. 

A guy could dream a lot about eyes like those.

Not that he had been. All week. Just...once or twice, when his mind wandered.

Luka couldn’t quite believe his luck when he saw the dark-haired cutie from last week was waiting on the steps again, this time in jeans and a loose pink shirt with her hair in pigtails, head down and fingers texting. At least it wasn’t quite so hot today; he wasn’t exactly shower fresh but he wasn’t dripping, either.

“Afternoon, Gorgeous,” Luka called cheerfully as he got off the bike, this time pulling two pizzas out of the carrier. “Plans tonight, huh?”

He’d startled her; her head snapped up, eyes wide and just as blue as he remembered, and he gave her his most charming smile.

She smiled back at him as she hopped up to meet him. “J-just having some friends over. We’re thinking of mmmaking it a regular th-thing.” She took the pizzas, somehow getting even cuter as her cheeks lightly dusted with pink. 

“Really,” Luka said, grinning as he got back on his bike. “Well, I hope you do. I work every Friday.” He winked at her. “Have a good night.” 

“Th-thanks,” she stammered, hand fluttering in what might have been a wave.

* * *

Apparently they did decide to make it a regular thing, because the next few weeks saw Luka parking his bike in front of the steps every Friday with a broad grin and a variety of delivery orders.

Gorgeous was always waiting for him, which gave him a happy little flutter. He appreciated her consideration (being kept waiting was one of his few real frustrations with his job), and tried not to read too much into the fact that she always came down to get the meal herself, even though he knew she was ordering for a group.

They never had time to talk for long, but he never missed a chance to compliment her and—

Okay, so he was flirting with her every chance he got. There was nothing wrong with a little flirting on the job. He had coworkers who did it all the time in hopes of bigger tips. Luka had never been able to flirt when he didn’t mean it and felt gross flirting for money (also it seemed like a really good way to pick up a stalker), but when it came to Gorgeous, he definitely both flirted and meant it. She always ordered online and paid ahead including the tip anyway. Luka supposed he could have checked the credit card receipt for her name, but he’d have felt weird about it. He really ought to just ask her since he saw her all the time anyway. He could do that, right, since she was a regular?

Luka had kept an eye out for her at all the campus hangouts, but he didn’t know if it was good luck or bad that he never ran into her. On the one hand, he really wanted to. He’d love the chance to have a real conversation with her, touch her hand, make her laugh and blush, kiss those perfect lips, take her home and see just how strong those legs would be wrapped around him—

_ Down, boy. _

On the other hand, his little crush might really get out of hand if she was as sweet and funny and creative as he inferred her to be from their short conversations, and Luka’s impressions of people weren’t often wrong. The little collection of facts he’d picked up over time told him he could be in deep if he wasn’t careful.

He knew she drew. More than once she’d been sketching when he arrived, and he’d gotten a glimpse of her work as she dropped the book on top of the pizza boxes before she took them. Not enough to know what she was into, just glimpses of figures in colorful clothes, but enough to see she was good. Luka knew she struggled with a stutter that got worse when she was tired or anxious and nearly disappeared when she was happy. She had to be some sort of athlete; she’d tripped into him once and what he’d felt under his hands when he caught her was not the kind of body you got by a casual workout here and there. He knew from her clothes that she loved pink and flowers. He knew she had good taste in music and that she was absolutely adorable when she bobbed her head and sang along. (He’d maybe stood there an extra minute watching her before she noticed him and nearly fell down the steps.)

He knew when he looked at her that his eyes got soft and his smile got warm and his heartbeat picked up in a way that had nothing to do with the bike ride. 

Yeah, so he was smitten. He didn’t care, it was harmless. Just something pleasant to daydream about while he rode through the campus.

* * *

Her hair was down, he noticed as he pulled up. Then she stood up, and Luka’s jaw dropped. “_Damn_, Gorgeous, who are you trying to kill tonight? Because I’m pretty sure you just slayed me.” _ Please say you wore it for me, please give me that little shoulder flirt and say ‘oh, this old thing’ and tell me you don’t have a date tonight. I might really die either way. _

Gorgeous blushed a beautiful shade of pink, hands smoothing the elegant little black dress she wore, fitted to her hips with a skirt that flared around her thighs. “My f-f-friend has a piano recital tonight and a b-bunch of us are going after we eat. I was h-hoping…” She bit her lip. “Do you really think h-h-he’ll notice me?”

“Does he have eyes?” Luka asked, handing her the order almost absently. “Because if he does, I think you’re good.”

Pink darkened to red. “H-he d-does but h-he n-n-n-n-ARGH.” She clenched her fists and hunched her shoulders in frustration, taking a deep breath. “Ssssee? I c-c-c-can’t ever t-talk t-t-to h-him. I c-c-can b-b-b-arely t-talk ABOUT h-h-him.”

“Hey.” Luka curled a finger under her chin, tilting her face up towards him. “Looking like that, babe, he won’t be able to talk either. If his brain doesn’t melt and leak out his ears, then he didn’t have one to begin with.” It was the last thing he wanted to do, but he forced himself to turn away and get back on his bike, blowing out a slow breath. 

“W-wish me l-luck,” she smiled brightly. 

“Do I have too?” he sighed wistfully, leaning on his handlebars as he watched her hips sway up the stairs.

He put one foot up on the bike pedal, sighed, and put it back down on the ground again, looking up at the sky. “Gorgeous, wait. C’mere.” 

She paused and turned back, skirt whirling around her thighs. She came slowly back down the stairs.

Luka pulled a small notepad out of his bike basket and flipped to a clean page, and then dug for a pen. He scribbled a name and location on the pad, tore the sheet out, and handed it to her. 

“W-what—“

“It’s a karaoke bar I like. Maybe you can convince your friends to go out after the concert. They’ll dedicate a song for you if you ask.”

She stared at him with those big blue eyes, and Luka had to look away, blushing faintly as he shrugged. “I read that it’s almost impossible to stutter when you sing—which you probably knew already, I’m sure, but...might help get your message across, yeah?” He smiled at the ground. “Music is often simpler than words, anyway. Worth a try, right?” 

“Y-you r-read about it?” 

Luka shrugged again, still not looking at her. “I don’t want to be a dick on accident, and we don’t really have enough time to talk about it, plus you’re probably sick of explaining to people anyway, so...yeah, I did a little reading.” He glanced at her, and relaxed a bit when she smiled at him, nodding slowly. 

“Thank you,” she said softly. “I’ll t-t-try it.”

Luka took a deep breath, and flipped up his kickstand. “Good luck tonight, babe. Knock ‘em dead.” 

* * *

It shouldn’t have been a big deal. So he had a little crush on her and she had her eye on someone. He saw her for like two minutes at a time every Friday, it shouldn’t have affected him all week. He should’ve been able to get through his Friday deliveries without this weird mixture of hope and dread. He shouldn’t have felt like there was a rock in his stomach when he pulled up in front of her building as usual. Luka told himself that she deserved better than a fake smile, and he managed to muster one that was mostly sincere, though maybe not as bright as usual, at the sight of her waiting on the steps for him.

“Hey, Gorgeous,” Luka flipped his kickstand down and went to get her food as usual. “How’d your big night—“ But when he turned toward her, his face fell. She hadn’t moved to greet him, she just sat with her face buried in her knees, her arms wrapped around them. “Aww, Gorgeous,” he sighed. He popped off his helmet and shook his hair out, coming to sit next to her. “Bad day? Bad week, maybe?” She nodded without raising her head. He set the pizzas on the step beside him and hovered his hand over her back. “I’m sorry, babe. It happens to everyone, but I wish it wasn’t happening to you.” She breathed a shuddering sigh, and then began to sob quietly. 

Luka sighed and bit his lip, checking his phone. He hadn’t gotten a notice for another delivery, which didn’t mean he could stay away, but it did mean he could probably get away with lingering for a few minutes. “You want to talk about it?” She shook her head. Luka hesitated. “Can I touch your back? Would that be okay?”

There was a pause, and then she nodded. Luka let his hand rest on her back and rubbed slowly. “It’s gonna be okay,” he told her in his most soothing big-brother voice. “Whatever’s going on, you’ll find a way to deal with it, or to go on despite it. Because you’re strong and confident and amazing.” She made a choked sound that might have been a laugh. “Hey, I’m saying it because I believe it. If it’s a problem, you’ll solve it. If it was just a crappy day or week, you’ll find a way to make the next one better. And if it’s a guy—or a girl or whatever—they’re a fucking idiot and maybe it’ll hurt for a while but you don’t need them.” 

She sighed heavily, and to his mild surprise, leaned against him. “W-what if it’s all of th-those?”

Luka slid his hand around her back to her shoulder and hugged her lightly to him. “Then you have to find a way to break it down and get through one pile of crap at a time, I guess. Your friends are coming, right? I hate to leave you alone like this.”

She finally lifted her face, pulling her sleeve over her hand and using it to wipe her eyes. “Th-th-they’re c-coming,” she said thickly. “I was t-trying to hold it t-t-t-together until they got here, b-b-b-but…” Her breath hitched and she started to sob again.

Luka squeezed her shoulders. “You want me to stay until they get here?”

“Oh, n-n-no,” she said quickly, blinking at him through wet lashes, and damn her eyes were still beautiful even red-rimmed and swollen. “You’re w-working, you’ll get in t-trouble.” She smiled weakly. “I’d mmmiss you if you got f-f-fired.” 

Luka smiled fondly at her. “Thanks. I’d miss you too, babe.” 

“It’s M-m-marinette,” she said, looking down at the pavement between her feet. “N-n-not that i m-m-mind you c-calling m-m-me b-b-babe or g-g-g-“ She struggled to get the word out, growing visibly more frustrated. 

“Breathe, baby, it’s okay,” Luka said, squeezing her shoulders again. “You’re okay.”

Marinette paused and took a deep breath, and tried again. “I l-l-like g-gorgeous j-just fine.” She sighed. “Sssorry, it gets s-s-so much w-worse when I’m upssset.” She put her head back down and covered it with her arms.

“You’re fine,” Luka reassured her, rubbing her back again. “I get it. Marinette.” He smiled. “It’s a pretty name, I like it. You’ll always be Gorgeous to me, though.”

“Marinette! Girl, what’s the matter?”

They both looked up to see a girl in a plaid shirt jogging towards them with a concerned expression. Luka looked at Marinette.

“Roommate,” Marinette said with relief. “l’ll be f-fine now,” Marinette assured him. “Y-you b-better get b-back t-to w-work—“ She paused.

“Luka,” he supplied with a smile, getting to his feet and dusting himself off.

“Th-th-thanks L-luka,” Marinette said softly as her friend took his place and put an arm around her. 

Luka mounted his bike and shot her a wink. “Any time, Gorgeous. I hope I get to see you smile again next week.” 

* * *

The next week she was waiting on the steps as usual, but instead of getting up to meet him, she smiled and patted the stone step next to her. Luka obliged, taking off his helmet first and then bringing her food up and setting it aside as he sat next to her. “Better this week?”

Marinette nodded, not looking directly at him. 

“I didn’t want to ask while you were so upset,” Luka said, stretching his long legs out as he leaned his elbows on the step behind him, “But how did it go, that night with the guy?”

“Oh,” Marinette sighed. “Um, your idea w-worked, but...h-he doesn’t feel that w-way about me.”

“Ouch,” Luka sighed, reaching out to squeeze her shoulder sympathetically, then letting his hand slide away. “What did you sing?”

She gave a weak smile. “Rock Me Eternal.” 

“Jagged Stone,” Luka grinned. “Nice. Gorgeous and great taste, but I knew that already.” Luka nudged her shoulder lightly with his and she groaned at the memory of the day he found her singing on the steps. “So wait, let me get this straight.” Luka turned to face her, leaning on one elbow. “You serenaded him with Jagged Stone, choosing a song which, if I recall, includes the lyrics _ throw me down and ride me into eternity—“ _Marinette groaned, putting her hands over her face. “—looking like you looked that night. And he turned you down?” Luka shook his head. “On the one hand I’m really sorry it didn’t work out how you wanted.” He smiled mischievously, leaning over to look up at her through his bangs. “On the other hand, you wouldn’t want to pass that kind of stupidity down to your children, so maybe it’s for the best.”

Marinette burst into laughter, and Luka grinned. “There’s the smile I was hoping for,” he murmured as he sat back, feeling pretty pleased with himself. Marinette bit her lip and took a couple of deep breaths. Luka raised his eyebrows slightly, waiting.

“Thanks for everything last week,” she said in a rush. “I h-h-had ssssuch a b-bad w-week on t-t-top of g-g-guy p-problems and I made y-you l-l-l-late and I c-cried all ov-over y-y-you…”

“Hey, it’s okay.” Luka reached over and squeezed her hands where they were folded tightly in her lap. “I have a little sister, I’m experienced at these things.”

“She’s done a lot of c-crying on you over g-guys?” Marinette asked, cracking a small smile.

“Girls, actually,” Luka chuckled, drawing his hand back. “It turns out guys don’t have the monopoly on being blind to amazing people right in front of them. Who knew?” 

There was a pause.

“I sssee y-you.”

“What was that?” Luka turned his head to look at her.

Marinette’s cheeks pinked and she fiddled with her fingers. “I s-sssee y-y-you, L-L-Luka.” 

There was another pause as Luka’s stunned brain struggled to compute. Then he smiled at the ground for a moment before lifting soft eyes to hers. “I see you too, Marinette.” He sighed. “I have to go.”

“I know.”

He stood up, offering her his hand. “Next week?”

She put her small hand in his and let him pull her up, but to his surprise and disappointment, Marinette shook her head slowly. “I’m going home for the w-weekend. So...I’ll sssee you the week after?” 

Luka held onto her hand just a moment longer and smiled. “See you then, Gorgeous.”

Normally, she would be halfway up the stairs by the time he was back on his bike. He could feel her eyes on him, but she didn’t say anything, so he pushed off as usual. 

“L-L-Llluka!” She cried, and, startled, he nearly fell over trying to stop.

“Ssssorry,” she gasped. “I’m ssso—“

“It’s okay,” he cut her off, then winced. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to—please finish what you were going to say.”

“N-no, I just wanted to ask y-you…do you like mmmmacarons?”

Luka tried to keep his expression under control so that he wouldn’t look at her like she had two heads. “They’re okay,” he said slowly. “I prefer madeleines, actually.”

“Dipped or p-plain?”

“The chocolate dipped ones. Why?” He leaned on the handlebars and eyed her curiously. 

“J-just w-w-wondering,” she said with an innocent smile that immediately set off his big brother radar. A smile like that on Juleka usually meant she was plotting something, which usually meant trouble for him. He wasn’t sure how to translate that look on Marinette.

“Okay,” he said, eyebrows raised. “See you in two weeks, Marinette.”

His stomach did that weird little flip at the way she fluttered her fingers at him as he rode away.

* * *

The order hadn’t come. Luka frowned. His shift was almost up, it was nearly an hour past when Marinette usually ordered. Had he heard her wrong? Depressed and trying not to be, he went through the close out process, barely aware of what he was doing. 

“One more order,” his boss called, snapping him back to reality. 

Luka frowned. “I was about to clock out.” 

The boss man shrugged and handed him the slip and the order. “Eric’s not here yet. Text me when you get there and I’ll clock you out, then you can go straight home.”

Luka sighed to himself but knew better than to protest. His eyes widened slightly as he saw the address.

The sun was setting and there was a chill in the air, burning his lungs as he pedaled. 

Marinette was waiting for him on the steps, wrapped tightly in a knitted cardigan that had clearly seen better days. She came down the stairs before he’d even stopped, beaming. “Hi.”

“Hey,” he said softly, a slow smile spreading his face. “Late dinner tonight?”

“Well, the girls made other plans, but I didn’t feel like going out, ssso I-I-I-I—“ He waited while she gathered herself. “Um, are you off w-work now?”

“Actually…” Luka sent the text to his boss, and got an almost immediate confirmation. “There.” He grinned at her, pocketing the phone. “I am now.”

“Then...do you want to have dinner with mmme?” She motioned to the picnic tables under the trees next to the dorm building. 

Luka tried not to look as pleased as he was. “I’d love to. Let me just lock up.” He nodded towards the bike rack. He handed Marinette the pizza and she took it towards the tables.

There were butterflies in his stomach as he locked up his bike, took off his helmet, and pulled his few valuables out of the basket, including his acoustic guitar, which he slung across his back. He glanced back towards Marinette and then ducked to check the mirror on the bike next to his, raking his fingers through his hair to muss it into something less helmet-shaped. “Don’t screw this up, Couffaine,” he told his reflection. Then he took a deep breath and jogged back toward Marinette. 

To his complete shock (and utter relief, because he’d really been done with pizza since about his third week on the job), Marinette had a small casserole dish waiting on the picnic table, steaming in the cool air. “I mmmade it at h-h-home and it’s been in the freezer all week. I used the common room kitchen to heat it up. It’s not f-f-fancy, b-but at least it’s n-n-not p-pizza?” She looked shy, twisting her hands together. 

“You’re amazing,” Luka said fervently, sliding onto the picnic table bench. “Oh my God, real food!” 

Marinette giggled. “It’s just a c-casserole.”

Luka shook his head. “You don’t understand. My sister eats like a rabbit and my cooking skills are passable at best. We basically live on salads and fruit and takeout.” Somewhere there was a smooth line about not needing to go through his stomach to get to his heart, but she smiled at him as she handed him a portion of casserole on a paper plate, and he couldn’t quite make his brain work enough to be sure it would come out right.

“Well, I hope you like it.” She sat down and opened the pizza box.

“You’re not having any?” Luka blinked.

Marinette shrugged. “I like p-pizza.”

“Aww, and here I thought you just liked me,” he teased.

Marinette’s cheeks turned pink and she wouldn’t meet his eyes. “I d-do.” Then she cleared herself throat. “Eat, it’ll get c-c-cold f-fast out here.”

Luka’s grin couldn’t get any wider. “I like you too, Gorgeous.” Then he felt his own face heat. “So what are you studying?” he asked quickly as he dug in. “Wow, this is good.”

“Mmmy parents own a bakery,” she told him. “I’ve b-been in the kitchen sssince I was a b-baby.”

She told him about her classes in design and business, and he eagerly asked her all the questions he’d been saving up for months. Luka noticed she was stuttering less as they talked. He hoped that meant she was comfortable with him. He really wanted that to be true. He was hanging on every word that fell from those perfect lips, and everything he heard just made him want to know more. 

Then she pulled out a container of madeleines that she had made and dipped in chocolate herself, and he knew he was a goner. “Careful, Gorgeous, a guy could get ideas from being treated like this,” he chuckled as he bit into one. “Homemade food and cookies—I might think you like having me around.” 

“T-t-technically, they’re c-cakes,” she told him loftily, and picked up one of her own. A hot flush rushed through him as he watched her eat it delicately. He looked away and had to clear his throat before he could speak again. 

It felt like no time at all had passed, but the plates were empty and the cookie-cakes were gone. The sun had vanished below the horizon some time ago, the bright halogen lights on the building washing out everything around them, and the chill air raised goosebumps on his arms, but Luka still couldn’t make himself leave.

“Parkour? Seriously?”

Marinette giggled. “Yep.”

“How do you even get into something like that?” Luka asked, leaning his elbow on the table to look at her.

Marinette shrugged. “I don’t know, I just...nnnneeded to run and I d-didn’t mmmuch care what was in the wwway. I sssstarted when I w-was fifteen. It was a g-good w-way to get rid of frustration. Mmmy p-parents saw me c-climb a wwwall and j-jump across to the next b-building. They t-took me over to the local f-freerunning association and ssssigned me up so I would get p-proper t-training.”

“Smart,” Luka observed. “It’s cool that they did that instead of trying to make you stop.” His smile widened appreciatively. “Although somehow I feel like getting you to quit anything you wanted to do would be pretty difficult.” She wrinkled her nose cutely at him and he laughed. “That doesn’t look like a denial.”

“Nnno c-comment,” she scrunched up her shoulders and stuck her nose in the air, and it was so cute Luka thought he might die. His heart was pounding and he wished he could ask her to go for a walk or something, anything to prolong the evening.

Unfortunately, he had another engagement.

“I’m afraid I have to go soon,” Luka said reluctantly, checking the time. “I actually do have something else I have to do tonight, but...thanks for dinner. You’re just as much fun as I thought you’d be.” He winked.

Somehow that flustered her terribly and whatever tried to come out ended up so garbled he couldn’t understand her. 

“I don’t think I caught that, babe,” Luka said, trying not to laugh. 

Marinette put her hands over her face. gave a frustrated huff. “Sssorry. And here I’ve b-been d-doing all the t-talking, and I hardly found out anything ab-bout you. I’m sssorry.” She made a face. “It’s p-probably frustrating for you, l-listening to mmme.”

“Don’t apologize,” Luka said with complete sincerity. “It’s no big deal to wait until you get it out. I didn’t mean to embarrass you.”

“Sssstill. Thanks for being sssso p-patient with me. T-too bad it’s not sssocially acceptable to b-burst into sssong.” She smiled at him so sweetly that Luka’s mouth answered without his brain’s permission. 

“Gorgeous, with lips like yours everything you say sounds like music to me.” 

Even so the blush that rose to his face was nothing compared to the shade of red Marinette turned. She made another strangled noise and Luka chuckled, reaching across the table to touch her hand, just resting his fingers lightly on the back. “You okay, or was that too much?” He ducked his head a little, trying to see her eyes. “I promise it wasn’t just a line. I meant it.”

“I kn-kn-know. Th-th-that’s w-w-why it wwworked,” she huffed, darting a shy smile at him. 

Luka bit his lip, and then took the leap. “I really like you, Marinette. I’m sorry if I’ve been asking too many questions, but I’ve been wanting to get to know you better for weeks. You’re the song that’s been playing in my head since the day we met. I’d really like to talk to you more often. Could I maybe give you my number, and if you feel like it, we could text sometime?”

Cheeks still red, Marinette handed him her phone. Luka grinned, and programmed his number. Marinette took the phone back and typed. A moment later his phone pinged with a new message. Luka saved the number under Gorgeous. 

“Come here, I need a picture,” Luka beckoned her, and she leaned in with him and let him take a selfie. It was a little washed out from the lights and his hair was a disaster, but he still grinned when he looked at her sweet smile next to his. “Perfect.”

“Sssend it to me?” Marinette asked, blushing. 

“Sure thing, babe.” He stood up and slung his guitar over his back, offering Marinette a hand up. “Thanks for dinner.” 

She let him help her to her feet. “Ssso do you actually play that th-thing?” Marinette asked, waving at his guitar. 

Luka laughed. “I know a chord or two, yeah. I prefer my electric, but this one’s a bit more portable.” 

“Mmaybe next time you can p-play something for me,” she giggled.

Luka grinned, leaning in a bit. “I’d love to play for you almost as much as I’d love for there to be a next time.”

She blushed a bit but didn’t avoid his eyes this time. “Ssso t-t-text mmme and we’ll pick a nnnext t-time?”

“Absolutely.” It was stupid how much he wanted to kiss her, and he would be stupid to try so soon. He forced himself to straighten up. “Goodnight, Gorgeous. Thanks for the cookies.”

“Th-they’re c-cakes, t-technically,” Marinette tucked a loose strand of hair back and Luka knew he better get out of there before he got any stupider.

He still had the stupid grin on his face when he got home. Juleka looked up and frowned as he came in. “Where have you been?” she demanded. “Hurry up and get ready, we’re going to be late. The rest of the band will be half set up before we even get there at this rate.”

“It’s fine, Jules, it won’t take me that long,” he said dismissively. 

“If I have to smell pizza on top of the club, I’m gonna hurl, Luka,” she complained.

He rolled his eyes. “Decide how big a hurry you’re in, sis, you can either wait for me to shower or deal with—“

“Fine, shower, just make it fast. What the hell kept you?”

The stupid grin came back. “I’m not exactly sure, but...I think it was a date.”


	2. Under Your Skin

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you everyone who left comments and let me know you would like more! Here's the next set. I've been posting these on tumblr first (except the last scene in this chapter which will go up on tumblr tomorrow, so you get a sneak peak) so follow me there (same username) if you want the scoop, but it'll all go up here eventually.
> 
> Again, thanks for all the love and encouragement, it really helps. I hope you enjoy this continuation.

He just could _ not _get this melody right. Luka ripped yet another page out of his notebook and balled it up, dropping it on the coffee table before sticking the pen between his teeth and trying out a few more notes on his guitar. A distant buzz got his attention and Luka glanced up, taking the pen out of his mouth to call, “Hey, Jules, can you grab my phone? I left it on the counter.”

Juleka picked it up as she walked out of their small kitchen, but paused, frowning. “Wait.” Juleka turned his phone towards him, the selfie he’d taken with Marinette on the screen. “That’s Gorgeous?”

“Yeah?” Luka tried to keep back the stupid grin, snatching his phone back to check the message. “What about it?”

Juleka started to laugh. “You are so fucked.” 

“I wish,” muttered Luka, distracted by the message, and then coughed and turned red as he realized he’d said it out loud. Juleka cackled. “Why do you say that?” he asked when she was under control again.

“I know her.”

He looked up again. “What?”

Juleka smirked at him. “She’s one of the design students. She volunteered backstage for one of the fashion shows last month.” Juleka folded her arms. “If you think she’s cute now, you should see her in charge. Stutter or not, she gave orders like a boss at the show. Seriously hot. Talented, too. Creative. Kind. She’s basically your kryptonite.” 

Luka’s eyebrows raised again and he studied Juleka’s face, alarmed by something in her voice. “Mine, or yours? If you want me to back off, Jules, you better tell me now.”

There was a pause that was just a little too long for his comfort, then, “No,” Juleka’s eyes softened. “I think there’s someone else I’m interested in.” Luka relaxed a little at the dreamy look she aimed out the window.

“You’re sure?” 

“Yeah,” Juleka walked past him, punching him in the arm. “Go for it, bro. Now, while you can, because I’ve seen her designs and in a few years she’s gonna be rich and famous and waaay out of your league.” She paused and glanced back at him. “Although you’d better upgrade your wardrobe if you’re going to date a fashion designer.”

“Oh, thanks, that’ll really help my confidence,” Luka snorted, looking down at himself in concern. It was true he mostly owned ripped jeans and band t-shirts and hoodies that were at least three years old. “Fuck,” he muttered with a sigh.

Juleka rolled her eyes as she picked up her purse and keys and opened the front door. “Don’t worry about it. Maybe it’s better she knows what a dork you are up front anyway. Be your weird-ass self, you’ll be fine.”

“Love you too, goth queen.”

“Later, pizza punk.” 

Luka threw a balled-up sheet of paper at her, but it hit the door frame as Juleka slipped out.

* * *

“Are you sure about this?”

Marinette sighed as she sorted through her small closet. “Y-yes.”

“I don’t know, girl,” Alya said doubtfully. “I mean, he’s cute, but you barely know him.” She wrinkled her nose. “He calls you ‘babe’ and ‘gorgeous.’ If you’re looking for some action I think he’d give it to you but I didn’t think you were into that kind of thing.”

“I’m n-not,” Marinette tossed a couple of shirts onto her bed.

“I just worry that he’s after something you’re not willing to give up, and you know guys can be crazy when they don’t get what they want. I don’t want you pressured into something you don’t want to do, or dumped somewhere sketchy.”

Marinette smiled to herself. “I’m n-not worried.”

Alya blew out a frustrated breath of air. “Why not?”

Marinette didn’t answer for a moment, and then turned to face her roommate. “If I t-tell you, are you going to argue w-with me or can you t-trust mmme? Because my reasons aren’t logical and I’m n-not going to get into a d-debate over it.”

Alya pressed her lips together and folded her arms. “All right. Let’s hear it.”

“I like him,” Marinette said simply. “W-when he c-calls me gorgeous it makes me feel appreciated, n-not objectified. It’s n-nice to b-be t-treated like I’m special. He’s been n-nothing but respectful and c-considerate. He has n-nice eyes. Nnnot just p-pretty, but n-nice. Kind.” She smiled to herself, selecting two tops and moving them to the side. “And w-when I mmmade h-him dinner he spent the whole time asking about mmme. He barely said anything about h-himself. W-we’ve been t-texting and he’s funny and s-sweet.” She didn’t bother to take the time to explain how rare that was, that anyone would want to spend that much time listening to her without ever once jumping in, cutting her off, or trying to predict her answers. Alya with her quick mind and impatient nature had been guilty of all of that in the past. “Anyway,” she sighed, “I l-like him and he mmmakes me feel good. W-w-why shouldn’t I go out wwwith h-him?”

Alya sighed. “Fine, go have your rebound. Maybe it’ll be good for you, anyway. Help you get...past things. Just be safe, okay? Text me every so often and let me know where you are.”

Marinette turned away from her so her friend couldn’t see the hurt on her face. She wouldn’t treat Luka like that. It had been almost a month since Adrien’s rejection. It hurt to know her long-time crush wouldn’t go anywhere, that was true, but really, she’d been ready to move on. Because if he’d ever felt about her even close to what she’d felt for him—he would have noticed her feelings. He would have made a move. Adrien might take a long time to figure out what he wanted, but once he did, he didn’t hesitate. And if he’d been looking at her with even the slightest bit of longing, he would have seen her looking back. So that night had always been intended to be a new beginning, one way or another. The beginning of a new relationship, or the beginning of moving on, and Marinette had gone into it fairly resigned about which it would be. She had mourned, and she had moved on.

But as much as she loved Alya, and as long as they had been friends, Marinette knew her blind spots well enough to know when something wasn’t worth arguing about. Let Alya think what she wanted.

Marinette had a date to get ready for.

* * *

Luka spent extra time in the shower and prayed to anyone listening that the cologne Juleka had bought him for his birthday was decent and not a joke she was playing on him. It smelled okay to him, but his senses had been warped at his job and he didn’t entirely trust them. He didn’t really have to do much to his hair, he kept his shaggy cut on purpose because it looked good without a lot of styling. He didn’t have a lot of choice for jeans; he just went with his least faded clean pair. He picked out his softest shirt and checked it over to make sure there weren’t any holes in it. Luka tried not to hear Juleka’s comments in his mind about dating a fashion designer. It wasn’t as if he had time or money to redo his wardrobe. Maybe if things went well, he could take Marinette with him the next time he had to shop for clothes.

He blew out a sigh as he tossed the shirt over his head. It was only their second date. Maybe. Luka wasn’t sure if the first one counted, but he hoped it did. Either way, there was no guarantee he’d get to hold her at all, but he really wanted to and if he got the chance he really wanted her to enjoy it.

“Come here, Jules,” Luka said distractedly as he walked into the living room, tucking his wallet in his pocket.

“What?” Juleka sighed, approaching him. He reached out and pulled her into a tight hug. “Luka, are you okay?” she asked, and then she sniffed. “You smell nice.”

“Yes!” he exclaimed. “Thank you. Not too strong?”

“No, it’s good, you absolute weirdo,” Juleka said, pushing him off.

“Juleka, I’ve only seen her at work up until now,” Luka pointed out. “I’ve got kind of a lot to make up for.”

Juleka wrinkled her nose. “Okay, that makes sense.”

“Okay, so I smell fine, do I look okay?” He took a shaky breath. “I really like her, Jules,” he told her. “I don’t want to screw up.”

“Luka,” she said, uncharacteristically seriously, squeezing his shoulder in a move that he often used on her “I know you think she’s amazing. But you are too. Enough that you managed to get a date with her despite being smelly and wearing ratty clothes and having helmet hair. You’ll be fine.” Juleka stepped forward and hugged him again. “And if you’re not, I’ll buy the ice cream this time.”

Luka laughed, squeezing her. “You only owe me about a thousand pints at this point.” His smile turned wicked. “Speaking of which, how’s it going with Rose? I’d ask if I need to stock up but I’m pretty sure I saw her leaving the apartment this morning.”

Juleka pulled back and punched him in the arm. “We just watched a movie, nothing happened.” She smiled though, and that was all Luka needed to see.

“I’m glad you’re happy, sis. Now wish me luck.” He kissed her forehead and went to get his keys. He slung his guitar case across his back and checked again to make sure he had his wallet.

“Good luck, loser.”

“Love you too, Jules.”

* * *

It felt like tradition, waiting for him on the stairs.

Except when he arrived he was on foot, and he looked...really good. Not fancy at all, but his laid-back look suited him, and it was miles better than his work clothes. Marinette’s knees turned to jelly when he looked up at her and smiled a genuine, slow smile. “Hey Gorgeous,” he said, and it sounded different, warmer or softer or just..._more_. “Ready to go?”

Marinette smiled and stood up, and Luka’s smile got broader as she came down the steps toward him. He held his hands out as she reached him and, blushing, she put her hands in his.

“You’re a vision,” he said in that warm voice of his, and she ducked her head a little. She wasn’t that dressed up either, in jeans and the lace edging of her camisole peeking out of her pink pullover. But the admiration in his face was so genuine she couldn’t scold him. “I like your hair,” he added, glancing up at her twin buns. “Cute.”

“Th-thanks,” she smiled. “I like yours too, n-now that I can sssee it.” She dared to reach up and play with a blue strand near his temple. “You l-look nice.” She let her hand brush his shoulder lightly as it fell and saw him swallow.

“Well I didn’t have to do much to improve on the usual,” Luka chuckled. “You haven’t exactly been seeing me at my best.”

“Y-yet, h-h-here I am,” she pointed out shyly, and there were those eyes she told Alya about.

“Yes you are,” was all he said, but the way he said it, like he almost couldn’t believe it himself, was enough to stir up the butterflies in her stomach. He offered her his arm.

Marinette put her hand in the crook of his elbow and let him guide her to the sidewalk.

“So,“ Luka began, “What do you—“

“Oh n-no,” Marinette said, raising up a hand. “Wwwe t-talked all about mme last t-time. I want to know about _y-you_.”

“Oh,” Luka said, looking taken aback. “Oh, sure. Ah…”

“Y-you sssaid you had a sssister,” Marinette prompted. “Wwwhat about the r-rest of your family?”

“Oh, it’s just me, Jules—Juleka, my sister, I mean, and my mom. Actually apparently you’ve met Juleka. She said she modeled for a runway show you were working on.” Luka pulled out his phone and showed her the lock screen picture of he and Juleka together. “That’s her.”

“Oh, I r-remember,” Marinette said with surprise, taking the phone to look closer. “She had sssuch an interesting l-look. R-really n-nice eyes.” She handed it back to him. “Mmmust r-run in the ffamily.” It amused her to see him blush at such a small compliment after all the lines he’d handed her over the past few months.

“She’s beautiful, I know,” he deflected, pride evident in his tone. “A little short on confidence sometimes, but she’s working on that and she’s come so far. She has too much fun roasting her big brother though. We’re only a couple of years apart but she’s always been the baby to me.” He unlocked the phone and pulled up another photo. “That’s my mom.”

“Oh,” Marinette took the phone from him again. “Wow, she’s got ssstyle. She’s the kind of p-person I would ssssit down and draw if I saw her on the sstreet.” Realizing she had just snatched his phone away, she handed it back to him, blushing. “Sssorry.”

“Don’t be,” he smiled, taking the phone back and slipping it back into his pocket. “I like seeing you excited. But yeah, my mom’s kind of an interesting person. Not the easiest person to have for a mom in some ways, but she’s definitely got personality.”

Marinette giggled. “Seems like that runs in the fffamily too.”

Luka grinned at her and winked. They walked in comfortable silence for a few minutes.

“So since I’m not allowed to ask any more questions,” he teased, “what else do you want to know?”

“What else d-do you think I shhhould know?” she countered with a playful sideways look. “What makes L-luka—” she paused. “I d-don’t know your last n-name,” she realized.

Luka chuckled. “It’s Couffaine. Although it’s made up anyway, my mom changed her whole name when she left home. If there was a goddess of rebellious teenagers, it’d be Anarka Couffaine.”

Marinette giggled. “L-luka C-c-couffaine,” she repeated thoughtfully. “Mine’s D-dupain-Cheng.”

“Marinette Dupain-Cheng,” he repeated likewise. “Well, maybe it’s a little belated, but—I’m very glad to meet you.”

She squeezed his arm where she held it. “Mmme too. Sso what m-makes L-Luka C-couffaine t-tick?”

“Besides your eyes?” he grinned at her. “Music, mostly. My mother’s a musician and she had a guitar in my hands before I could walk. I’ve always expressed myself better with music than words.”

“Th-th-that surprises me,” Marinette giggled. “Y-you nnnever seem at a loss for w-words.”

“Oh, Gorgeous, it comes so easy when I’m with you,” he sighed, putting one hand to his chest dramatically, and then he dropped it and smiled at her. “Partly because have a week to think about it. And it makes you smile. I get the feeling maybe not enough people have been telling you how amazing you are, so I’m happy to pick up the slack.” He shook his head. “That day with the black dress, though. I think I forgot my own name for a minute.”

Marinette blushed. “Ssso w-w-what k-kind of mmmusic?”

“Listening or playing? I mean, all kinds, really,” Luka shrugged. “I’ll listen to almost anything, and I’ll play anything that catches my ear. I have a soft spot for folk music from all kinds of different places. I always seem to gravitate back to rock though. I play a few different instruments, including just about every kind of guitar there is, but the electric guitar speaks to me the most. I’ve been playing in bands since I was oh, about twelve or thirteen? Been writing music as long as I can remember.”

“Y-y-you write mmusic?” Marinette gasped, impressed. “Th-th-that’s sssoo c-cool.”

Luka nudged her with a grin. “You don’t even know if I’m any good.”

“Are you?”

Luka coughed, turning a little pink. “Maybe. Some people think so.”

“Mmmhmm,” Marinette quirked an eyebrow at him.

“Including the school scholarship committee,” he admitted, lifting his free hand to rub the back of his neck.

“I d-didn’t expect f-false mmodesty from you,” she teased.

“I don’t like to brag,” he said, looking uncomfortable. “I don’t want to jinx anything. Some days I still can’t believe anyone thinks my work is worth listening too. Sometimes I feel like if I tell the wrong person, they’ll realize I don’t actually have any talent and it’ll all come crumbling down.”

“I c-can relate,” Marinette sighed. “Mmmy b-best ffriend is always h-harping on mmme not to d-downplay mmmy accomplishments.” She bit her lip and admitted, “I’ve designed for Jagged St-st-stone.”

Luka stopped in his tracks. “Seriously?”

Marinette’s cheeks warmed and she wished she hadn’t said anything. But she had, so… “Yeah. Just a c-couple of s-small things.” He was still staring at her and for some reason she felt compelled to add, “And an album c-cover.”

“No way, which one?” Luka demanded. “I have all his albums.”

“R-rock Giant.”

“The one with the sticker? Man that was so fresh and original.” Luka cleared his throat. “I um...I sold one of my compositions to a producer friend of mine. It ended up being the base melody for one of Clara Nightingale’s singles.”

“W-wow, that’s amazing!”

They exchanged a look of mingled embarrassment and admiration, and Marinette laughed. “W-w-we’re a p-pair, aren’t w-w-we.”

“I’d sure as hell like to be,” Luka said fervently, and then he bit his lip and his expression clearly showed he hadn’t meant to say that.

Marinette knew her face was red, but she just bumped him lightly with her hip. “I th-think that’s a c-c-conversation that should wait a few mmmore dates.”

“Right. Sorry. Speaking of which—I was kind of hoping if things go okay tonight, maybe you’d like to come see my band play this weekend? You don’t have to answer now, just...think about it?”

“I w-will,” she smiled up at him. “I’d l-like to c-come if I c-can.”

Luka beamed back at her, and they started walking again.

* * *

They’d picked a small restaurant, not fancy but offering a lot of comfort food (not pizza) and with prices to suit a college student’s budget. Luka held the door open for her but as Marinette was walking through, two giggling teens darted out of the door. Marinette squeaked, tripped over her own feet trying to dodge them, and fell straight into Luka, who dropped the door to catch her, staggering slightly when she was heavier than he expected.

“Hey, watch it,” Luka called after them, his arm securely around her as she got her feet untangled, and they tossed back an apology made unintelligible by laughter as they ran off.

“Freshmen,” Luka muttered with a sigh, and then paused, apparently remembering she was a freshman. “Sorry.”

Marinette’s reply was muffled in his chest as she tried to get her legs back under her. She’d lost her breath colliding with Luka. His body was firm where she’d fallen against him and his shirt was soft and as she drew in a sharp inhale she realized he smelled...really good. Marinette was accustomed to his scent being something to endure, not enjoy. She blushed, and she knew it was the deep red of true embarrassment, and not the pink tint that she could pass off as shyness.

Luka raised his eyebrows slightly as she moved off of him. “You okay?”

“Yeah,” she said quickly, and then admitted, “You s-s-smell n-nice.”

He sighed and his shoulders sagged a little. “Thank God, Jules said I was fine but I was afraid she was messing with me. You’d think for someone who complains about the pizza smell as much as she does that she’d be helpful when I try to clean up, but I never know when the desire to screw with me is going to win out over her better impulses.”

Marinette laughed, blush fading some, and he grinned at the sound.

“You’re adorable,” he chuckled as they went through the door, and the blush was back full force.

Even so, she was smiling so hard her face hurt.

She kept the subject on him as they ate, though he kept veering off to ask her things. He was a lot deeper than his easygoing manner had led her to believe. He’d learned Italian for his music and Scots Gaelic from his mother. Luka confessed to doing well in almost any academic subject that he could relate back to music in some way, including most math and some sciences, but his Gen Ed requirements were the bane of his existence (she sympathized). He managed to side track her on film fashion for a while and its accuracy, or lack thereof, and that conversation revealed a knowledge of history that surprised her.

“It can be fun to listen to music without any preconceptions,” he told her when she expressed her surprise, “But sometimes you really need the historical context to understand what a composer was trying to convey. I think that there’s value in both, really. How you experience the music isn’t any less valid than what the composer wanted you to experience, but to appreciate a piece of music in its cultural and historical setting can help expand your point of view. That’s true of most art, I think.” He smiled, those soft eyes on her. “Including fashion, if I had to guess.”

“You’re p-pretty smart for a guitar-toting delivery b-boy,” she teased.

“Hey, don’t knock the job,” Luka laughed. “It pays—well, some of the bills, I have lots of time to think, and the paychecks are way more regular than songwriting.” He reached his hand across the table and she moved hers to meet it automatically. “And it brought me to you.”

Marinette smiled slowly, and his own smile grew as he looked back at her, and it was a moment before either managed to find anything to say again.

“Do you, um,” Luka cleared his throat, “You still want to hear me play?”

* * *

The music building was old and stuffy, but Luka preferred it to the more modern buildings on campus, all of them sterile and pretentiously artsy and too bright. The music building squatted there like a protester at a sit in, unabashedly itself and refusing to be anything else, and Luka had always loved that about it. It reminded him of his mother. Marinette giggled at the comparison when he told her as they walked up the steps.

“I didn’t want to carry it all night, so I stashed it here on the way over to your place,” he explained, pulling his guitar case out of the locker. “Hang on, let me just go get a key,” Luka squeezed her shoulder and jogged over to the administrative desk.

“Hey, I need a practice room,” Luka told the young man at the counter. The guy looked at Luka and then looked over his shoulder to where Marinette was waiting, and gave Luka a skeptical look.

Luka ignored the look and put his student ID on the counter, sliding it over. They both knew that the clerk had no grounds whatsoever to deny the request. He grudgingly took Luka’s ID and handed over the key in exchange.

“Don’t make a mess,” the clerk said.

“Thanks,” Luka said brightly, pretending he hadn’t heard.

He led Marinette downstairs to the row of practice rooms with their frosted glass doors. Several others were in use, which made him feel better. He didn’t want Marinette to feel uncomfortable being down here with him. He checked the number on the key and unlocked the corresponding door.

The tiny room had an upright piano against the far wall, and an amp in the corner, along with some other electronics. Luka pulled out the piano bench and invited Marinette to sit while he got his guitar plugged in and tuned, making sure he kept her between himself and the door so she wouldn’t feel trapped. When he was satisfied, he played a few simple warmup exercises, and then gave her a cheeky grin and played the riff from _Sweet Child of Mine_.

“Always a crowd pleaser,” he said almost absently before shifting into _Sweet Home Alabama_, then _You Shook Me All Night Long_. He lifted his head and grinned. “That’s what I do when I want to show off for people who aren’t musicians,” he confessed. “Just play one after another.” He moved over and sat next to Marinette on the piano bench. “Not exactly romantic date material though.” He improvised a sappy-sounding tune, and Marinette giggled.

“But then again, you’re a Jagged Stone fan,” he commented, playing the riff from _Rock Me Eternal_, “So maybe it works for you.”

Marinette groaned. “I’m n-never going to l-l-live that d-down.”

“Hey, it was brave.” Luka nudged her with his shoulder. “Maybe someday I can get you to sing for me.”

“I c-could b-be c-completely t-tone deaf,” she huffed. “You d-d-don’t know.”

“But you’re not, are you, Gorgeous.” Luka’s knowing tone and slow grin brought heat rushing to her face. “You can’t tell me a love song from your lips wouldn’t sound like heaven. I don’t believe it.”

Marinette scrunched up her face. “Y-you r-really are a shameless f-flirt.”

“Baby with this in my hands I can be anybody you want me to be.” His words were flippant but he smiled fondly at the guitar, wiping a smudge of dust off the black body with his thumb. “Tough?” He played the riff from _La Grange_. “Intense?” He played _Every Breath You Take_. “Sappy?” The guitar sang _It’s like catching lightning, the chances of finding someone like you._ “Emotional?” The guitar wailed _but I’m only human, and I bleed when I fall down_. “So what’s your pleasure, babe?” He winked at her.

“I w-want to h-hear the r-real you,” she said softly. “Are you r-real, Luka? Or are you actually j-just a flirt looking for a g-good t-time like my r-roommate says?”

For a moment they just looked at each other, and then Luka looked down, fiddling with the pick on his fingers. “Can I play you something I wrote?” he asked finally.

Marinette blinked. “I’d r-really l-like that.”

Luka nodded slowly, and squared his shoulders. “Okay.” He took a slow breath, and repeated, “Okay.”

He played. He played kindness and surprise, an unexpected, skipping beat with a thrilling tenor line. He played cold water on a hot day and breathtaking blue eyes.

“Luka, th-that was beautiful,” she breathed.

“I wrote that the week after we met,” he told her, watching those beautiful eyes. They went a little wide, and he heard her gasp. “And this…” He played another melody that started out more playful, with that same skipping beat, then a note of surprise and a rush of warmth that turned the melody deeper and brought a blush to Marinette’s cheeks. “You remember that time you tripped off the last step?” he said, eyes on his guitar. “You were wearing flavored lip gloss—you must have just put it on because I could smell strawberries when I caught you.” Luka smiled as he looked at her, “And this one...the black dress?” He played a melody that thrummed and pulsed, but there was something sad about it.

“That’s amazing,” she breathed. “I mmean, it was l-like I c-could really hear what you were f-f-f-.” She swallowed and looked away, tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear. “Feeling,” she managed at last.

“You wanted the real me,” he said quietly, dropping his eyes to the guitar, playing the black dress again just for something to do. “And the real me thinks you’re pretty special, Marinette. You know how they call Helen of Troy the face that launched a thousand ships?” He glanced up at her, and then down again. “Well since I met you, I can’t seem to stop writing songs. I’m not up to a thousand yet, but—“ he gave her a quick smile. “I’m working on it. And...after tonight I’ll have a new song to write.”

Luka heard Marinette’s breath catch and he straightened, caught her eyes, and listened. “Something like this,” he murmured. His hand slid along the fretboard almost without conscious thought, his pick dancing across the strings with purpose. The melody that came to his hands was richer than anything he’d played up until now, but tense, a little bit reverent, a little bit disbelieving, a little bit eager. This was his true talent, the thing that made people sit up and take notice of him, his ability to take feelings and put them to music, and showing it to someone one on one always felt a little bit like being laid bare.

Showing it to her, like this, was terrifying.

They were silent for a moment as the chords died away.

“So you see,” he said with a self-conscious half-shrug, slowly sliding his pick behind the strings, shrugging out of the strap, and leaning the guitar carefully against the piano before turning slightly towards her and meeting her eyes. “The real me is just a lovesick idiot who’s been dying to kiss you for weeks.”

Marinette’s breath was shaky and her cheeks reddened further, but she didn’t look away. “W-well,” she said, and cleared her throat. “H-how mmuch l-l-longer are you p-p-planning to wwwait?”

“As long as it takes for you to say yes,” Luka replied, voice low. He reached one hand across the small space between them to slip his fingers between hers, the other coming up to caress her cheek, his thumb brushing across her lips. “And not a second longer. Can I kiss you, Marinette?”

Her fingers came up and curled into his shirt, tugging lightly. “Yes.”

* * *

Alya looked up from her book as Marinette came in, and then sat up in bed at the look on her roomie’s face. “Did you get laid?” she asked bluntly.

Marinette snorted. “N-no.” But the dreamy smile quickly took over her face again. Alya smirked.

“He kissed the everloving daylights out of you though, didn’t he.”

“He sure d-did,” Marinette sighed. “And he was r-really good at it.” Luka kissed her at first like he really had been waiting weeks to do it, and then he kissed her like he couldn’t believe he was doing it, and then he kissed her like he never wanted to do anything else. He’d started so soft and slowly built it into something so steamy and it turned out she really, really liked his rough hands. (God she’d made some embarrassing noises; she hoped he hadn’t noticed.) “I can’t remember the last t-time anybody k-k-kissed me like that.” She paused. “Have I ever been k-kissed like that?” She looked at Alya and both girls dissolved into giggles.

“Well, if he makes you this happy then he can’t be too bad,” Alya chuckled, laying back against her pillows with her book.

Marinette flopped on her bed with a happy sigh and hugged her pillow, remembering how despite their shameless making out in the music room he’d still asked her permission before softly kissing her goodnight in front of the building, and his husky voice whispering “See you Friday,” before he let her hands slide out of his.

Marinette sat up suddenly and pulled a folded flier out of her back pocket. She waved it at Alya and grinned. “Y-you r-remember th-that b-band Mylene was t-telling us about? What do you say t-to VIP access on F-friday?”

* * *

Luka drifted back in the door of his apartment in a happy daydream, smiling like the utterly besotted fool he was. The night couldn’t have gone better if he’d written the script himself. Marinette was smart and witty and accomplished and a million other things wrapped up in killer package, and he couldn’t wait to see her again. 

Juleka lifted up from the couch to look at him, dislodging Rose, who also turned to see what was going on. Juleka took one look at him and smirked. “I warned you.”

“You did,” he agreed, leaning back against the door with a happy sigh. “You can write it on my tombstone because she’s definitely going to be the death of me.”

“Oh, that’s so sweet, look at him,” Rose cooed, laying her arms across the back of the sofa and putting her head down on them. “He’s so in love!”

Juleka just looked amused. “I hope you at least kissed the hell out of her to be looking like that.”

“I sure as shit did,” he sighed, putting his hands over his face. “And it was amazing. She’s so...” he made an inarticulate noise. “I could’ve kissed her all night.” And she might have let him. He grinned to himself under his hands at the memory of the glazed look on her face and sent a mental blessing to Annabeth Cerise from his junior year at high school for her “making out is like writing a song - intro, crescendo, bridge, decrescendo, outro” speech and the practical lesson that had followed.

And Marinette’s lips were so plump and soft and perfect and when she moved he could feel her muscles rippling under his hands even through her cardigan and he absolutely loved the sounds she made when he slid his hand up her back to the bare skin of her neck and—

“I don’t even want to know what you’re thinking about right now,” Juleka said dryly, turning back around on the couch. “Go melt into a puddle of goo in your own room so I don’t have to mop you up later.”

Luka didn't respond, sinking to the floor where he was, hands still over his face.

"Too late," Rose giggled.

* * *

Hey Gorgeous.” Luka pulled up in front of the building with a grin. “Got a little something extra for you today.” He pulled several brightly colored VIP bands out of his pocket and held them up. 

“Th-thank you,” Marinette smiled, taking them. “The g-girls are really excited.”

“Oh, you got big plans tonight?” Luka asked teasingly as he got out her food.

“Oh, th-there’s a b-band playing t-t-tonight that’s been getting a lot of hype,” Marinette said airily. “I heard their lead guitarist is p-p-pretty hot, ssso…”

“Yeah?” Luka grinned, leaning on the rail of the steps. “I think I know that guy. I hear he’s weak for big blue eyes.”

“Ooh, th-that’s a good t-t-tip,” Marinette giggled. “Mmmaybe he’ll st-stick around after he p-plays. A guy like that probably gets a lot of attention after a set though.” 

Luka chuckled. “Wear the black dress, babe, he won’t be able to resist.”

Marinette wrinkled her nose adorably. “Th-that dress is b-bad luck.”

“Not tonight it won’t be.” Luka smiled affectionately. “You wear that, look at him with those gorgeous eyes, hit him with your best pickup line, and he’ll be putty in your hands.”

Marinette giggled. “P-pickup lines, seriously?”

Luka grinned. “Come on, Gorgeous, I know you’ve got game in there somewhere. Just break the ice and let fate do the rest.”

“Y-you think?” 

Luka shrugged. “Worked for me.” He leaned forward and kissed her cheek. “I gotta go babe. See you tonight, okay?” 

“I’ll b-be there,” she promised with a soft smile, and 

“Wear the black dress?” he said hopefully, backing toward his bike. 

“Mmmmaybe,” she shrugged, turning away, but she looked back to wink at him over her shoulder and he feigned being struck in the heart.

“Good luck tonight Gorgeous,” he called, and she waved just before disappearing through the doors. “That girl is going to kill me,” he sighed as he got back on his bike. “And I’m going to love every moment.”

* * *

“I can’t see her, I hope she’s here,” Luka said fretfully, peeking out of the backstage door after the set. He couldn’t see anything from the stage, which was probably just as well since he had a performance to focus on. He’d killed it, too, if he did say so himself, with the boost that came from the extra buzz in his veins from knowing she was out there.

“Oh she’s here,” Juleka grinned. “And she came to slay. You’re gonna be sorry you wore such tight pants.” 

“Gross, Jules,” Luka muttered, ears reddening. “I don’t want to hear that from my sister.” She came up beside him and pointed. He followed the direction of her finger and, in a lucky flash of light, spotted Marinette alone at a high top near the bar, much closer than he had originally been looking. “Shit, you weren’t kidding,” he muttered, staring. 

She was wearing the black dress and her makeup made her blue eyes really pop even under the club lights. Luka bit his lip. His stomach felt like jelly just looking at her. He had to turn way and shut the door for a minute just to breathe. 

“Chicken,” Juleka muttered next to him, smirking.

Luka scowled. “I’m going. In a minute.”

“Your mouth is moving but all I hear is _ bock bock bock._”

“Juleka!” Rose scolded, and then smiled at Luka. “Go for it Luka, I believe in you.” 

Luka grinned and looked at Juleka, pointing to Rose. “Keep this one, I like her.” He took a breath. “Okay,” he muttered, “Here I go.”

She looked even better up close. He wasn’t the only one who noticed, either, he could tell. Deciding not to waste any more time, he made his way to her table and leaned his elbows on it. 

“Hey Gorgeous,” he flashed her a grin. “What brings you out tonight?”

“I c-came for the mmmmusic,” she said with a one shouldered shrug that made his heart race. “But I sure wouldn’t mind some c-company.“ She gave him a slow once over and his nails bit into his palms. “You look a little d-dangerous, though.” She put her straw between her lips and looked up at him through her lashes.

“How’s that, Gorgeous,” he asked, already curious what her game would be.

“Well you know, I l-like your sssmile,” Marinette put her chin in her hand so she was both leaning toward him and looking up at him. “B-b-but every time I look in your eyes I feel like I’m l-lost at ssssea.”

Delighted, Luka leaned in, keeping his voice low. “You’re safe with me, baby, I was born on the water,” Luka murmured, fighting to keep the grin that wanted to split his face to something more like a seductive smirk. “But I gotta say, if I was lost at sea with you, getting back to shore would be the last thing on my mind.” 

“You wwwouldn’t take me h-home?” she said innocently, batting those huge blue eyes.

Luka was absolutely going to die. “I’d take you to heaven. That’s where you came from, isn’t it?” He reached up and played with a tendril of her hair, making sure to brush his fingers along the back of her neck in the process. Her head tipped back slightly, her lips parting as her eyelids fluttered for a moment. 

“Cheater,” she gasped lightly. 

“God, can you blame me, Gorgeous?” he sighed, moving his hand around to run his thumb along her jaw. “You’re a work of art, you know that? Please say I can kiss you.” 

She withdrew slightly, tugging his hand away from her neck. “T-too p-public,” she said, tangling his fingers with hers and resting their hands on the table. “Y-you ssssounded great.” 

Luka swallowed his disappointment and smiled back at her. “You liked it?”

“Y-yeah,” she grinned, and would have said more, except she was interrupted by a squeal and Luka suddenly found a body attached to his free arm. He was somewhat accustomed to this after shows, though the timing this time made it a little harder not to roll his eyes. He gave Marinette an apologetic glance before plastering on a smile and turning to get rid of his fans as politely as possible. 

The first group moved on easily enough but they only made way for a slightly more inebriated girl who got a little handsy. Luka was holding off her octopus hands and looking around for a bouncer when Marinette stepped between them and shoved the girl firmly back. “H-he sssaid he’s b-busy.”

“I’ll keep him busy,” the girl purred, making eyes at him over Marinette’s shoulder. 

Marinette turned, hooked her arm around his neck, pulled him down and kissed him, and hell if it wasn’t one of the best moments of his life. He found he was completely okay with being manhandled if it was Marinette doing it, and in fact he would encourage it in future as much as possible. He’d taken the lead in all their kissing before and it had been great but she was a force of nature now and all he could do was close his eyes, hold onto her hips, and let her kiss him stupid.

When he could process his surroundings again, octopus girl was gone and there were three girls standing there with folded arms, smirking at them. 

“Well I was going to ask you to introduce us,” the one he recognized as Marinette’s roommate giggled. “But after that I’m not sure the boy remembers his own name.”

“Damn straight,” Luka said breathlessly, absently wiping lipstick off his face. “Holy shit, Gorgeous.” 

Marinette made an embarrassed moan and covered her face with her hands. “Alya!”

“That’s not going to save you, girl,” Alya laughed, along with her friends. 

Luka slipped his arm around Marinette’s waist and squeezed lightly, and offered his hand in the general direction of her friends. “While I’m trying to remember my name, can I have yours?”

* * *

Luka contemplated whether he would look desperate or overeager for about a quarter of a second, and then texted her. _ Hey Gorgeous. Busy right now? _

_ Just out for a run, why? _

_ My class was cancelled and I was wondering if you wanted to have lunch, but I’ll take a rain check if you’re busy. _He held his breath as he waited for the reply.

_ No, I’m free. Where? _

“Yes!” Luka grinned broadly and sent her the information for a nearby cafe.

She sent back _ Be there in fifteen minutes_.

Luka got there in ten and texted her just to let her know he’d arrived. A few minutes later his phone buzzed. 

_ Almost there. Coming down Reed St now. _

That was where he was standing. Luka looked around, and then frowned. _ I don’t see you _, he texted, and then scanned the street again. His phone vibrated against his palm.

The message just said _ Look up_.

Confused, Luka raised his eyes, and then dropped his jaw as he saw a small figure running along the edge of a building. A moment later she had flipped over the building edge and bounced down the wall, catching windowsills and pipes and Luka couldn’t even tell what all in her descent to the ground. She flipped off the wall at the bottom to land with a flourish, and then jogged up to him. “Hi,” she panted, shoving her bangs out of her face.

The sound that came out of Luka’s mouth could in no way be considered a word.

Marinette’s breathless laugh did nothing to help his composure. Her windblown hair was tied back in pigtails, she was wearing loose pants and a windbreaker open over a tank top and sports bra, and she was the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen. She bit her lip and tilted her head, looking up at him. “L-luka? Should w-we go in?”

“Yeah,” he said absently, stepping aside to let her go by. “After you.”

By the time they were seated at a table in the café, his dazed state had clearly begun to worry Marinette. “Sssorry,” she said, tucking a loose strand of hair back behind her ear. “I didn’t mean to mmmake it w-w-weird.”

“Weird is not the word I would use,” Luka said faintly. “I’m trying to come up with something that wouldn’t be wildly inappropriate or blatantly disrespectful, but the best I can do is _ God that was hot._” He groaned and put his face down on the table. “I’m so sorry,” he mumbled.

Marinette blushed and let out a nervous giggle. “R-really?”

“That can’t be the first time you’ve heard that,” Luka said, lifting his head and finally focusing on her. 

Marinette shrugged one beautiful shoulder and he tried not to stare. “It is.”

Luka’s eyebrows raised. “Seriously?"

She blushed a little brighter and nodded, and then shyly took off her jacket, revealing her arms. They were toned and lean and Luka’s mouth suddenly felt very dry. “I’m n-not exactly the d-delicate t-t-type I guess. I d-didn’t th-think...I’ve h-heard guys don’t like g-girls with mmmuscles.”

“Not the—my mom was right, guys today are so stupid,” Luka muttered, putting his face in one hand. “Makes me glad Juleka’s into girls.” He looked up at her through his fingers. “How could anybody not—For the record, both Couffaine siblings think girls with muscles are really attractive. And yours are…” He blew out a slow breath. “Really nice.”

“Wwwell, th-th-thank you,” Marinette said at last, picking up her water. He paid way more attention than he should have to the straw sliding between her lips. She cleared her throat as she set it down and said to the table, “Y-y-yours are n-nice too.” Luka blinked, trying to recall how she could know that. Her eyes flicked up at him. “Th-th-that fffirst d-day. When it w-w-was ssso h-h-hot. Your shirt wwwas, um, white and you were p-pretty...hot.”

Drenched in sweat, she meant. Luka coughed, feeling his own blush rising. “Oh. Right.” He ran a self-conscious hand through his hair. “I grew up on a houseboat, so between working on that, and time on the bike—” An awkward pause fell.

“Ssso,” Marinette said, picking up her menu. “F-f-food?”

“Hell yes,” Luka sighed, picking up his too.

They managed to behave almost normally from there, until they had finished eating and walked outside and Marinette was standing with her hands on her hips, staring at the wall of the building, clearly planning her route up it.

"Hey Gorgeous," he said quickly, and she turned back around. "Be my girlfriend?"

She smiled and walked over to him, putting her arms around his neck. "I'd l-l-like th-that."

"I'd love it if you'd come over tonight and let me put my hands all over you," he told her, nuzzling her cheek. "If you don't have other plans."

Marinette giggled. "W-we'll sssee." She pecked his lips, then pushed him away and turned to take a running leap at the wall. In seconds she was up over the roof of the building and out of sight.

"She's really gonna kill me," Luka sighed, staring after her.


	3. Can't Get Enough

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The last section in this one gets a little bit NSFWish; nothing explicit, nothing happens on screen, but there's pillow talk and references to Things that happened. You can skip it if it's not your thing.

Their Friday meetups were still a thing, but the tone had changed.

He pulled up in front of her building and smiled warmly as she came to greet him. "Hey Gorgeous. How'd your exam go?"

"I'm n-not sure," she sighed. "It was t-t-tough."

"Well, it's over with. You worked hard." Luka handed her the food and then produced a rose from seemingly nowhere and offered it to her. "I'm sure you did great."

"Th-thanks, L-luka." She rose up on her toes and they kissed softly. "Are you p-playing tonight?"

"Yeah," he said, getting back on the bike. "Are you coming?"

"I d-don't think so," she said sheepishly. "I r-really just want t-to put on my p-pajamas and r-read a book that has nothing to do with ssschool."

He smiled back at her. "I understand. You relax, and maybe tomorrow we can get together and find a way to take your mind off school for a while." He winked, and her giggles followed him as he pedaled away.

* * *

Normally Luka loved it when Marinette dropped by unexpectedly, but he was feeling a little aggravated today. He had a presentation he needed to work on and a major exam to study for and it was really hard to do any of that with his beautiful girlfriend draped across his lap.

Not that he minded having her there. But she'd interrupted his studying and now she was sitting on his lap and _ refusing to kiss him_.

“You’re cruel,” he complained, trying again only for her to move away at the last moment, just like the last ten times. Luka pouted. He was going to get her back for this.

Marinette giggled. “And yet you like me anyway.”

Luka snorted. “Babe, I blew way past like somewhere around our fourth date.”

She stiffened and drew back slightly.

He just smiled, looked back at her adoringly.

When he reached up to pull her back down to his lips, this time she didn’t refuse him.

Mission accomplished.

He didn't get much studying done though.

* * *

Life was good, the world was beautiful, and he was on his way to pick up his hot girlfriend.

His hot girlfriend who had left him speechless yesterday when he'd begged her to wear the black dress tonight and she'd giggled and said, "Oh, I c-can do better than th-that old thing."

Luka could see that she was waiting for him as he approached, talking with another girl he hadn’t seen before. Luka frowned at their body language. Marinette had her arms crossed and she was turned half away from the other girl. He quickened his pace a little, only to stop dead when their conversation hit his ears.

“—just don’t know if that style’s really flattering on you, Marinette. I mean, guys like girls to be feminine and delicate, not all, you know...lumpy. Maybe it would be better if you covered up a bit more.”

_ I’m not exactly the delicate type I guess, _ he remembered Marinette saying_. I didn’t think...I’ve heard guys don’t like girls with muscles. _

Luka ground his teeth. This explained a lot. The_ fuck _ this girl was going to get away with—

“I mean,” the girl said in a sickly sweet, oh-so-sympathetic tone, “You need to make a good impression, because, you know...well conversation isn’t exactly your strong suit, is it?”

Oh that _ bitch_. Luka took a deep breath, and wiped his anger off his face. “Hey Gorgeous,” he called cheerfully as he jogged up the steps. “Ready to go?” He took some satisfaction in seeing the nasty girl’s eyes widen and then sweep over him, though he didn’t look at her at all, keeping his eyes fixed on Marinette as if the other girl didn’t exist. Marinette turned towards him and he didn’t have to fake an ounce of his reaction. “You look amazing,” he breathed, his eyes raking over her, still completely ignoring her companion. “Wow.” She wore a red halter dress with black polka dots, fitted through the waist and then flared to her knees, the skirt fluffed out by a layer of black tulle underneath. Her strong arms were bare.

“T-told you I could do b-better,” she said, pivoting slowly on her toes. When her back was to him, he heard a strangled noise come out of his own throat and slapped his hand over his mouth, eyes riveted to her exposed back. She looked back over her shoulder with an innocent expression and clasped her hands behind her, flexing her back muscles.

He’d never seen anything so sexy in his _ life_.

Luka let out one more moan behind his muffling hand and then shook his head, letting his hand fall. “You’re a masterpiece, Marinette. A fucking work of art. I doubted you when you said you could top the black dress, but I will never question your skills again. God you’re hot.”

He made a sympathetic face as she completed the turn and faced him again, a pretty blush in her cheeks. “It’s such a shame about your lipstick though.”

“What’s wrong w-with—“

He caught her hands before she could raise them to her lips, pulled her close, and kissed her. Luka took his time about it, guiding her hands up around his neck and then wrapping his arms around her, cradling her gently against him, mingling tenderness and passion, wanting her to know that she was both loved and desired no matter what that jealous harpy was spouting.

When he finally released her, her red lipstick was indeed utterly ruined.

“Sorry,” he said insincerely, grinning. “I know how you feel about kissing in public, but there’s no one around but us, so I thought it’d be okay.” There was a loud snort from somewhere near his elbow. Luka ignored it and kissed her lightly. “We better get going, Gorgeous, Jules’ll kill me if we’re late again because I couldn’t keep my hands off you.”

Marinette giggled, letting him lace their fingers together and tug her down the stairs. He grinned to himself as she shot a smug look over her shoulder. “Bye Lila,” she called sweetly. 

“T-tell Alya not to w-wait up for me, will you?”

When they were out of sight, Marinette pulled Luka to a stop and jumped him—literally, he had to catch her as she hooked her arms around his neck and her strong legs around his waist—and kissed him fiercely. As if being climbed like one of her parkour obstacles wasn’t enough to kill him by itself, holy shit.

Somehow he survived the kiss and her slide back down him to the ground, but only barely. 

She giggled at him while he mimed a heart attack.

“What was that for?” he asked innocently. “Not that I’m complaining.”

“You know exactly w-what you did, you b-beautiful mmman.”

Luka just grinned. “I don’t know what you mean. I just want you to know that I think you’re gorgeous and I love everything about you.”

“Uh-huh. And the fact that Lila just happened to be p-p-picking on m-me had n-n-nothing to do w-with it.”

Luka bit back an impolite reply that he knew Marinette wouldn’t approve of and just said, “Oh, was there someone there? I remember a stick wearing bright colors. I wondered who left their flag lying around.”

Marinette snorted and laughed, tucking herself against his side. “I love you so m-much,” she said, and even though she said it in laughter, his heart soared.

“I love you too, babe,” he murmured, leaning down to kiss her hair. He put his arm around her waist and they started walking again. “So who was that—charming person?” he asked, making a face.

“An old enemy,” Marinette replied, making a face of her own. “I th-thought I was d-done with her but she’s f-friends with Alya and Alya invited her to ssstay with us f-for the weekend.”

“Seriously?” Luka said incredulously. Marinette shrugged.

“L-lila’s insidious and c-careful. She only shows her t-true colors around p-people she c-can’t use. Alya th-thinks I’m just b-being oversensitive.” She sighed. “It’s g-gonna b-be a long w-weekend.” 

“You could stay with me,” Luka offered immediately. Marinette looked up at him and he shrugged. “Juleka won’t care. I can sleep on the couch.” 

“Y-you don’t have to sleep on the c-couch,” Marinette admonished.

Luka grinned ruefully. “Yeah, I kinda do.” He stopped and turned Marinette towards him. “Babe, I already can’t look at you without feeling like I ought to go to confession.”

She wrinkled her nose. “You’re not C-catholic.” 

Luka shrugged. “The point stands. Anyway I wouldn’t get a wink of sleep in bed with this,” he motioned to all of her. “Not unless we did a few other things first.” He paused, choosing his next words carefully, face heating. “And while I’d be more than willing to do those things with you, that’s probably something we should talk about without that kind of pressure.” He cleared his throat and smiled down at her suddenly round eyes. “So I’ll sleep on the couch. All that aside, we should probably fix my face and your lipstick before we get to the club, or I’ll catch hell from Juleka for _ weeks_.”

* * *

“You really don’t have to do this,” Luka said uncomfortably, holding his arms out as Marinette instructed. “I feel bad taking up your time.”

“I w-want to do this,” she said, critical eyes roving over the suit hanging off his body while she took his measurements. “It’s j-just a little tailoring, it’s no b-big deal.” 

“If it’s no big deal, then it shouldn’t matter enough to take your time,” Luka insisted. “You’re just always so stressed, I don’t want to add to it.”

Marinette stepped back and looked up at him, putting her hand gently against his cheek. “T-trust me. I know w-what I c-can handle. And y-you’ll see when I’m d-done that it w-was worth it. This c-concert is a b-big deal ffor you, I w-want to help.” She rose up on her toes and kissed him lightly before he could protest further. “L-let me t-take care of you b-baby,” she said in her best imitation of his sexy drawl. “It’s m-my t-turn.”

He turned red, and Marinette grinned. He’d kiss her stupid for that when she was done getting his measurements, she knew, but it felt good to get one up on him once in a while. She gave him a flirty little look from under her lashes that she knew drove him crazy and then got back to business. Mostly.

Luka raised his eyebrows a moment later. “Are you taking my measurements or feeling me up? Not that I’m complaining.” 

“Both,” Marinette giggled. “Might as well t-take advantage of you while I have you at mmmy mercy.” 

“I’m always at your mercy, babe,” he said, but Marinette suspected it was a reflex as he seemed extremely distracted by her hands smoothing over his chest, ostensibly to gather the excess fabric back so she could pin the darts she planned to add. 

“Don’t m-move,” she warned him, “I’m going to start p-pinning.” 

He cursed under his breath. “You’re killing me, Gorgeous.”

“Y-you always sssay that, and you’re n-not dead yet.”

“Are you sure?” he retorted. “Feels like heaven to me.”

Marinette giggled. “I haven’t even g-gotten to your p-pants yet,” she pointed out smugly, grabbing his ass. He let out a startled yelp and then blushed as Marinette giggled.

She wasn’t quite bold enough to tease him while she adjusted the fit on his pants, so she finished quickly. Marinette turned him to face the mirror and Luka stared. “Wow,” he said at last. “That does look better.” To her mind, it still looked like a cheap suit, but having it custom fitted did make a big difference, and there were a few other tricks she could pull now that she had his measurements. She wished she could give him something actually made to compliment the lines of his very nice body, his trim hips and broad shoulders and long legs, but there was no way she could realistically do it in time for his performance in the conservatory. 

“I w-wish I had known you n-needed one sooner,” Marinette sighed, “So I c-could have mmmade you one. B-but this will do for nnnow, now that it’s p-properly fitted. But as ssssoon as I have t-time you’re getting an MDC ssspecial.”

Luka was quiet, and Marinette stepped around him to look up at his face. “L-luka?” she asked in a small voice. He opened his mouth, and then shook his head and closed it, looking back at the mirror.

“What are you even doing with me?” he said wonderingly. “You could have anybody, you know that right? Anybody with two brain cells to rub together, anyway.”

Marinette snorted softly but chose not to argue, knowing it would be pointless. For a long time, she’d taken his flirting compliments with a grain of salt, sure they were exaggeration, but over time she’d come to understand that he really did think that highly of her, that he genuinely meant all the things he said to her no matter how crazy they sounded. “Mmmaybe. But you’re the one that s-saw me. N-not the st-stutter or the clumsiness or the r-rambling. The r-real me.” She smiled at him, and touched his face again. “I sssee you, L-luka. Not the f-front you p-put up to hide how sssensitive you are because p-people have been c-cruel t-to you. The real y-you.”

Luka returned the caress, running his thumb along her cheek. “Baby, you’re so far out of my league it’s a miracle you ever looked at me at all.” 

“W-well, I did,” she said, turning her face to kiss his hand. “And I’m n-not looking anywhere else.” He bent his head and kissed her tenderly, and she did her best to put her feelings into it. She wasn’t sure what had caused this bout of insecurity when he was usually so cheerful, but she wanted him to know how much he meant to her. 

She tugged lightly at his collar when they parted. “Now let’s get it off you, carefully.” 

“Now you’re singing my song, Gorgeous,” he grinned. _ Aaand he’s back_, she thought, giggling.

* * *

They were cuddled up watching a movie on the tiny TV in Luka’s room. The living room TV was bigger, but Juleka and Rose had already been ensconced in front of it when Luka and Marinette got home. Luka secretly preferred it this way anyway. He loved having Marinette in his bed, whether they were doing things that would haunt his dreams later or just snuggling—hell, he loved having her in his bed whether he was in it or not. Just knowing she had been there, smelling her perfume on his sheets before he fell asleep, made him indescribably happy. 

It did mean his mind was maybe less on the movie than it would have been in the living room.

He was leaned up against the headboard and she was snuggled up against his side, her head resting on his chest, and he was toying with the ends of her hair and daydreaming about the morning she’d kissed him awake on the couch, wearing his shirt like a dress with adorable bedhead, and let him pull her down on top of him as she asked him how he liked his eggs because she was making them breakfast—

“I know y-you sssaid you’d be w-working a lot during the b-break,” Marinette said abruptly, making him jump slightly, and when Luka turned his eyes down to look at her, she was blushing, picking at imaginary dirt under her fingernails. “B-but I w-was hoping...mmmy p-parents are h-hoping y-you m-m-m-m—” She made a frustrated face, and sighed. Luka waited for the block to pass, a weird feeling curling in his gut at the possible question. “Mmmy p-parents want you to c-come for dinner,” she finished in a rush, darkening from pink to red.

“Oh.” Luka blushed too, and rubbed a hand through his hair. “Uh, y-yeah, sure. I mean, I gotta eat anyway, so—I can make time.”

“If it’s t-too sssoon I c-can—”

“No,” Luka said firmly. “No, definitely not, I just…” He pursed his lips. “I’m just afraid they won’t like me,” he finished honestly, figuring now was maybe not the best time for bravado. 

“Well, I l-like you,” she said, reaching up and back to pat his cheek. “J-just b-be yourself, they’ll c-come around.”

“Yeah, that’s pretty much never worked before,” Luka muttered, but when he saw Marinette’s pained expression looking up at him, he forced a smile. “It’s fine, Gorgeous. It’ll be fine.”

“It w-will,” Marinette promised in a tone he found vaguely ominous. “Or they’ll answer t-to mme.” She dug her elbow into his ribs lightly. “B-besides, y-you can get me b-back when it’s t-time to meet your mmmother.”

Luka snorted. “Yeah, we’re putting that off as long as possible. I love my mom, she’s an incredible, amazing, strong, beautiful hurricane of a human being, but she’s a _ lot_.” He slipped his arm around her waist and tugged her against him. “I’m not letting her anywhere near you until—well, I’m not sure, but even then, there’ll be an escape plan just in case.”

Marinette giggled, wriggling and scooting until she could put her arms around his neck. “I’m n-not _ that _ easy to sscare off.”

“I love you, baby, but my mom could scare anybody,” he said, though he was distracted by the proximity of her perfect lips. “Especially if she likes you.” He slid his hand up to rub that sensitive spot at the back of her neck and watched her eyes go half-lidded and dark. “And I think I’m done talking about her for now. Do you care about the end of this movie?”

* * *

Once upon a time, he would have been over the moon excited for his daughter to bring a boyfriend to meet them. He’d have made them an elaborate, sweetheart themed meal, gotten out the good candles, decorated the table.

Tonight Tom was...okay with the meal he created, but he knew his heart hadn’t been it. He just couldn’t muster the enthusiasm he’d had before. He didn’t really understand why his amazing daughter had such bad luck with boys. They’d always seemed perfectly nice...he’d been particularly hopeful about the artist boy but that hadn’t lasted long at all. 

He was tired of seeing Marinette’s heart broken and this new boy...well, Marinette certain had the happy glow of new love, but...a musician? That didn’t sound...stable. A rock musician, at that, a guitarist. Tom had seen enough _ Behind the Music _ interviews to be worried. Tom’s concern had been enough to make Sabine take him aside and remind him that Marinette was an adult now, that her choices were hers to make, including who she chose to date and what she chose to do with them (Tom hadn’t needed his brain to go that direction) and that it was okay to be worried but that they were going to smile and support Marinette and be kind to the boy she loved.

He was polite enough, Tom would give him that. Jittery, which he hadn’t expected. Tom took in every detail, black nails and dyed hair and pierced ears and the leather bracelets that he fiddled with constantly. The boy was clearly nervous, but his joking manner and casual way of addressing Marinette rubbed Tom the wrong way. Two courses in and Tom was only more worried than he had been in the beginning.

Luka’s eyes flicked to Tom and down to the table, picking at his food. Tom felt a trickle of irritation. Why didn’t the boy just eat his damn food. It was good food! Food that Tom had made and prepared for _ him_. Well, for Marinette, but still. Ungrateful. 

Tom felt Sabine kick him under the table and hastily smoothed the frown away from his face. 

He tried, he really did. He tried to join in the conversation, to ask questions, to get to know the kid. But every time he spoke, Luka jumped, and his answers were confused and rushed. Shifty.

Tom didn’t like him. 

“We’ll c-clear the table,” Marinette said shortly, and Tom jolted at the dark look she sent him. “Why d-don’t you go ssset up dessert in the living r-room where we can all b-be comfortable?”

“That sounds lovely, dear,” Sabine said, grabbing Tom’s arm and tugging sharply. He grudgingly followed her out to the living room, where she rounded on him. “You are scaring the tar out of that poor boy,” she hissed. 

“I’m not doing anything,” Tom insisted.

“Papa.” Tom turned and cringed a bit at the look on Marinette’s face. She stood with her hands on her hips, her lips thin, and Tom knew they were in trouble. “You aren’t even g-giving him a ch-chance,” she growled. “W-why? B-because he d-doesn’t hide who he is? B-because he’s in a “s-s-soft” major? B-because he d-d-doesn’t c-come from mmoney? I d-didn’t think you w-w-would c-care about any of that. Wh-what is it?” 

Tom looked at Sabine for help, but Sabine folded her arms and looked at him with a cocked eyebrow and Tom knew he was screwed.

“I’m sure he’s a perfectly nice boy,” he said desperately. “I just—I’m not sure he’s right for _ you_. You deserve someone exceptional. Someone who won’t ask you to put your dreams on hold for his. I just...he doesn’t seem like your type, sweetheart.” 

Marinette’s eyebrows lowered and her bottom lip pouted out and Tom took a step backwards, half-expecting some kind of ultimatum. For a moment, she just stood there and he could see she was fighting a block, and his heart plummeted into his stomach. She must really be upset. He wasn’t at all prepared for what she said next, nor the hurt, almost teary voice she said it in.

“He sssspeaks three languages,” she told him. She looked at Sabine. “One of th-them is his mmother’s n-native t-tongue.” She looked at Tom. “He’s on a full ssscholarship for his mmmusic. I’ve p-personally heard his p-professors call him a p-p-prodigy.” Tom’s eyebrows rose. “Yet he still works a day j-job and p-plays gigs on the w-weekends to help put his sssister through school and k-keep their appartment, plus he ssssells some of his original m-music. He’s sssold music to C-Clara Nightingale and t-two tv shows that I know of.” Tom gaped at her. “Yes, he’s f-f-focused on mmusic sssometimes to the exclusion of everything else, but who else d-do we know like that?” She glared at him, and then looked at Sabine.

“Ask him about t-traditional Chinese mmmusic,” she challenged, and then back at Tom. “Or Italian. Or _ any _culture of mmmusic. T-talk to him about history and how it influenced the mmmusic that was mmade at the t-time.” She smiled wryly. “D-don’t ask him about Ssscottish m-music though, he’ll never ssstop. He’s as b-bad as Papa with his p-pastries.” Tom cracked a smile at that.

“He w-wanted to take out his earings and take the polish off his n-nails and I told him nnnnot to b-because he shouldn’t have to ch-change for us. He’s insecure and reserved and he h-hides it b-by t-t-talking big,” she said, her shoulders coming down a little. “H-he hasn’t sssaid so b-but I think his f-family nnever had m-much and he’s sself-conscious ab-bout it. P-people have mmmisunderstood him h-his whole life because he c-can’t relate outside of mmusic ssometimes. But he’s educated and sssmart and sssweet and thoughtful and k-kind, and I l-love him.” She blinked back sudden tears, and Tom felt like he’d swallowed a rock. “Sso p-please show him the P-papa I love, so he can be the L-luka I love in f-front of you.” She turned on her heel and went back into the kitchen.

Sabine sighed. “I warned you. I told you before he even got here that she was serious about him and you’d better keep an open mind.” 

“I know, I know, I just...he just looks so…”

“Tom,” Sabine shook her head. “What do people say when they look at you? When they look at us? You’re better than this.” She shot him a glare that made him wither. “You’re better than your father.”

Suddenly a male voice rang out loudly from the kitchen, and both of them jumped. “So sing it back if you’re with me, I wanna hear how your heart speaks, while we’re young, while we’re young—”

Tom and Sabine looked at each other and then moved toward the kitchen, peeking in. Luka had Marinette in a waltz hold, swaying her around the kitchen, looking at her with absolute adoration. She giggled as he grabbed her around the waist, lifting her feet off the ground as he continued to sway with her. “And I’ve been so lost without you,” he sang, putting his forehead against hers. “And are you lost without me too, while we’re young, while we’re young—” 

Sabine giggled, and Luka’s head snapped around to them, a blush spreading over his face as he set Marinette back on the floor. “Oh, um, we were just—she just looked a bit sad, and—I’m sorry, I was probably loud—”

Tom smiled slowly. “Finish up, kids,” he said, tone softer than it had been all evening as he slipped his arm around Sabine. “I have cookies in the living room for dessert.” 

* * *

The club was crowded, but Marinette found a table, and waited for Luka to find her. She wasn’t sure how he always managed to find her in a crowd, but within minutes he was beside her, oblivious to the jaws that dropped as he walked by in his tight jeans and the shirt she’d made for his birthday, perfectly fitted and artfully ripped, with his band logo loud and proud on the front. He looked fantastic in it and she wished she could upgrade his whole wardrobe. Luka might wax poetic about her beauty but he was a damn fine specimen himself in her opinion—an opinion that had been shared by several other girls she’d passed on her way into the club.

“I’m glad you made it,” Luka grinned, taking her hands as she got up to greet him. “I missed you, babe.” He kissed her cheek, and then her shoulder. “You know what these backless shirts do to me,” he sighed, slipping one hand around to stroke her bare back lightly.

“I know,” she said cheekily, leaning into him. She’d chosen the slim pants and glittery red halter top, and worn her hair up so her neck was exposed, expressly to make it as hard for him to keep his hands to himself as possible. They hadn’t been able to see each other much during the break and she was hungry for his touch. “How long until your set?”

“I only have a few minutes,” he said, regretfully, waving over a short, dark-haired man with a cheerful face. “I just wanted to introduce you to—Hey, Evan, this is Marinette. Marinette, Evan. He’s probably one of my oldest friends and the only one that always kept in touch no matter how often mom dragged us across the world.”

Evan set his beer on the table and offered his hand with a wink. “I'm here to embarrass him.”

“H-hello,” Marinette smiled, shaking his hand. “Nnnice to mmmeet you.”

“Likewise, Luka’s been talking about you nonstop. Here, I brought you a drink." He set a cocktail in front of Marinette but before she could say anything a hand closed over the top of the glass.

"Don't drink that," Luka said sharply, sliding it away from her. "Never drink anything you don't see made in front of you."

"Luka," Evan complained, "You're going to make her think I'm a creep."

Luka rolled his eyes, picked up the drink, and downed half of it. "I trust Evan with my life," he told her, putting the glass back down on the table with at thwack. "And Juleka's. And you still shouldn't drink anything you don't see made in front of you. And you—" He pointed at Evan warningly. "Have heard me give this speech to Jules enough times to know better."

"Yeah, yeah, I forgot," Evan sank down in a chair, pouting. "I was excited. We haven’t been able to hang out in ages and from the way you talk about her, I was pretty sure you were dating Wonder Woman.” He grinned. “She’s a little short for an Amazon though.” 

Luka snorted and shoved him down into a chair. “Get used to it,” he told Marinette. “He only gets worse with time. If you need to kick his ass, don’t hold back on my account.”

“You’re such a good friend, Luka,” Evan laughed. “Supportive, caring—“

“Happy to call you on your bullshit,” Luka interjected with a grin. "Come on, Gorgeous.” He tilted his head toward the bar. "Evan can hold the table while we get you a drink. Victor doesn't know nearly as many embarrassing stories about me, anyway."

Giggling, Marinette followed him to the bar and let him buy her a fruity cocktail that was more juice than alcohol, just like she preferred. “Do me a favor, keep an eye out for my girl tonight?” Luka said as the bartender mixed the drink. 

“Sure thing, Luka,” Victor said, sliding the glass across the bar to Marinette.

“I c-c-can t-take care of mmmyself,” she grumbled as she picked it up.

“I know,” Luka cupped her cheek. “I just feel better if I know Victor’s watching your drinks. He knows all the tricks. There’s a lot of people here tonight and I want you to be safe.”

He walked her back to the table, glanced around and then leaned close. “I know how you feel about public kissing but can we make an exception this once? I don’t like the way the sharks are circling,” he said low in her ear, eyeing a couple guys at the next table who were staring rather openly at her ass. “I know you can take care of yourself, but your dad’s only just warming up to me and I don’t want to explain to him why I had to bail you out of jail for breaking some jerk’s arm.” He grinned. “Not to mention I just really, really want to kiss you. You’re so beautiful, Marinette.” Marinette set her drink down and slid her hands up his chest and around his neck, and he swayed in place a little, eyes going half-lidded for a moment.

Marinette loved her effect on him. He put his hands on her hips and squeezed and she bit her lip. She loved his effect on her too. “It’s not going to be much of a rule if we keep making exceptions,” she teased, and then he hit her with those soft blue bedroom eyes. “But okay,” she finished, a little breathlessly, and he wasted no time bending to claim her mouth, both hands sliding up to her back, one going high enough to stroke the back of her neck the way she liked. Oh, she’d missed this so much. She tightened her arms around his neck, enjoying the gentle way he cradled her even as he passionately staked his claim. He made it easy for her to be bold because she always felt safe with him.

“Sorry for going all caveman,” he panted when they parted, “But hopefully that’ll make some of ‘em think twice. We’ll find somewhere private later and I’ll be more thorough, I promise.”

“Mmm,” Marinette said dreamily, cuddling up against his chest. “I don’t mmmind this once. I’m happy to send a message to all those g-girls I passed mmmaking plans to hit on the hot guitarist playing t-tonight.” She felt his laugh rumble in his chest and smiled.

Luka squeezed her close and then sighed, letting her go. “I have to go, Gorgeous, they’re going to want me on stage in a minute. And as much as I love the music we’re making, I do kinda have a commitment.”

“I kn-know,” she sighed, pulling a compact out of her purse to fix her lipstick. 

“We’ll have a break halfway through our set, I’ll try to come find you—what—”

He cut off in a small whimper as Marinette, a fresh coat of red on her lips, rose up on her toes and caught his collar. She moved it aside and laid a kiss just below his collarbone, leaving a red lip print behind. She let his shirt settle back into place to cover the mark.

“Fuck,” he muttered. “You’re killing me, Gorgeous.”

“Just mmmaking sure you don’t forget to who’s w-waiting for you.” Marinette winked.

“Babe,” he said tenderly, all the teasing gone out of his voice. “I would never. You know that, right?”

Marinette smiled as he kissed her temple. “You b-better go, J-j-juleka’s glaring,” Marinette said, giving him a little push, though she really just wanted him to fold her up in his arms and kiss her all night. 

“Right,” he sighed. He kissed her forehead. “Don’t believe anything Evan says about me.” He turned to elbow his way through the crowd to where Juleka was waiting for him. Marinette giggled when Juleka grabbed his arm to keep him from going on the stage, and wiped his face roughly with her sleeve before she let him go up the stairs.

Then his words sunk in and she whirled to see Evan grinning at her over the rim of his beer, clearly having seen the whole display, and she turned as red as her shirt as she slid back into her chair.

“Well,” Evan chuckled, “That explains the constant shit-eating grin he’s had lately.”

* * *

She’d woken up in Luka’s bed several times before, but never with him in it, until now. It was warm. Luka was like a human heat lamp. Marinette sat up, shivering a bit at the change as she moved away from his heat. Holding the sheet to her chest, she scooted away from him a little and stretched. 

He stirred a little at her movement, opened his eyes and blinked sleepily, and then smiled. "Hey Gorgeous."

Somehow hearing that nickname in his rough, sleepy voice felt as intimate as anything they'd done the night before, and sent tingles down her spine. "W-what?" she asked shyly, when he continued to stare at her with that besotted smile.

"Just rearranging my mental list of sexiest things I've ever seen," he rumbled with a lazy smirk. "Pretty sure after last night the red dress is down to number five at least. Didn’t think that was possible but you keep surprising me. Turns out morning after looks really good on you too.” 

She flushed pink, and his grin widened. "Even better," he mumbled. He reached out and wrapped his arms around her waist, slithering back close to her until his face was pressed against her. “Where are you going, babe?”

“N-nowhere,” Marinette sighed with a smile, threading her fingers through his hair.

“Music to my ears,” he said, rolling onto his back to give her room to lie back down with him. She nuzzled into his neck, enjoying his pleased hum and his rough hand skimming up and down her back as he turned and cuddled up to her. He kissed her with a reverence that belied his teasing. "You're amazing," he murmured into her shoulder. "I know I said it last night...like, a lot,” she felt his grin, and giggled, “But even so. I meant it every time.” He sighed. “Thanks for making my dreams come true. They couldn't remotely compare to the real thing.”

“Thanks for…”

“Hmm?”

“F-for mmmaking th-this my choice. N-not rushing mme. Y-you—sssorry, this is embarrassing.” She hid her face in his shoulder.

“You don’t have to say anything, baby,” he told her, wrapping her up close in his arms in that way that always made her feel so safe. 

“I w-want to,” she sighed, hooking her chin over his shoulder. “It’s j-just...you never p-pushed me, not even a little, and w-when I started t-to feel anxious y-you told me it was n-no big deal and we’d g-get there when I w-was ready, and y-you n-never made it feel like you didn’t w-want me. And n-not all mmy friends could ssay that about their b-boyfriends, ssso...thank you. F-for being y-you. F-for being p-patient and gentle and s-sweet and...just all of it.” 

Luka snorted. “And a little overeager,” he muttered, and she could feel the heat of his blush. “Ugh, so embarrassing.” 

“You w-were excited,” she smiled. “It was ffflattering.”

“You barely had to touch me,” he grumbled. “You were supposed to be first.”

“Y-you made up for it. I was f-fine with s-second.” She giggled. “And third.”

“Mmm, third was pretty good, wasn’t it.” She could _ hear _ his smirk. “Think we tied for that one.” Luka pulled back to where he could see her face and smiled at her. “No regrets?”

“None.” She leaned up and kissed him, burying her fingers in his hair. 

“Then it was worth every second of waiting.” He pulled her close again. “Can we stay like this a little longer?” he asked. 

“Okay.”

Marinette reached her arms around his broad back, stroking her nails gently over him in a soothing motion that made him moan and relax into her. 

“I just,” he mumbled into her shoulder, even as he arched into her touch. “Mm, that feels nice. I just, I know I talk a lot about how beautiful you are, but...I just want to make sure you know. As much as I love your body, and I _ really _ love your body, and your lips, and God your _ eyes _…what was I saying?” 

“I have n-no idea,” Marinette giggled as he paused to run his tongue over the love bite he’d left on her shoulder. 

“I love you,” he breathed into her skin, and then kissed her. “I love you so much, baby, I love you, I love you.” He kissed her face, her bare shoulder, the crook of her elbow, lingered on the inside of her wrist. “I love you, my gorgeous Marinette.” He buried his face in her neck and groaned. “Stop me, before I say something really stupid.” 

“I l-like it when you g-get stupid about how mmmuch you love me,” she said shyly, and he raised his face to beam at her. 

“I’m absolutely a fool for you,” he said with so much tenderness that she blushed. “A complete, total idiot. I literally walked into a wall the other day because I was staring at a picture of you thinking about how lucky I am.” His face lit up. “Can I take one now?” 

Marinette’s mouth dropped open and her face turned red as she dragged the sheet up to her chin. “N-n-no! Absolutely n-not!”

“Not like that,” he said quickly. “Covered up, just us, together right now. Just for us, I swear. Let me take one and you can delete it if it makes you uncomfortable. Here, come here.”

Marinette was nervous but she let him arrange her on her side and tuck the sheet around her torso just under her arms, leaving her shoulder bare but covering her entire chest. Luka snuggled up behind her, nuzzling her temple before reaching for his phone to take the picture. 

“See?” he said softly, showing it to her. It was intimate, even a little sexy, but not at all explicit, soft with the morning light, her hair mussed and spread across the pillow, his cheek leaning on her temple, both wearing still sleepy expressions of contentment. The dark mark on Luka’s collarbone, visible just over the curve of her shoulder, and his eyes looking right at the camera, intense where hers were soft, made her body warm. “Can I keep it?” he begged. Marinette pursed her lips, considered the worst case scenario, and decided she wouldn’t die of embarrassment if, say, her parents saw it. It looked kind of like a sexy perfume ad, actually. 

“Y-you c-can keep it,” she sighed. “B-but j-just for us.”

“Promise,” he said, saving the photo. Then he kissed her neck in a spot he knew was ticklish, making her scrunch her shoulder up. 

“L-luka,” she laughed, and he leaned further and kissed her cheek. 

“Can I keep these too?” he grinned, handing her the phone. 

“You s-s-s-sneak!” she cried. How he had managed to snap those without looking, she had no idea, but they were good and still modest enough, though they made her blush. “Sssend me that last one,” she said grudgingly. Luka chuckled. “Done. I’ll put it away now, promise.” He reached over her and dropped the phone on his cluttered nightstand.

“How are you feeling?” he asked, stroking her hair back from her face.

“G-good.”

“Sore?”

“Yeah,” she admitted. “It was w-worth it.”

His deep chuckle made her blush. “Babe, That was only our first try. It’ll just get better from here, I promise. And I think you’ll find,” he added, voice dropping seductively as he curled around her, “I’m a quick study.”

“I th-thought,” she teased, looking back at him over her shoulder, “That y-you c-could only stay interested if it had to do with mmmusic.” Her breath caught at the soft look he gave her. 

“Baby,” he said tenderly, reaching up to caress her face, and that tone combined with that look made her shiver, her eyes going a little wider at every word. “Gorgeous, my Marinette, haven’t you figured out by now that you _ are _ music to me?” His rough hand slid down her side to her hip and over to flatten across her stomach, and he kissed the sensitive place on the back of her neck, and the combined sensation made her gasp. “I’m gonna learn how to play every inch of you.”

He shifted so she could roll on her back, eyes shining as he kissed her with all the love and passion she felt in his words. 

His lips slid down to the hinge of her jaw and she felt his smile against her before he nipped her earlobe lightly and his hand slid up her ribs. She bit her lip and squirmed, a flush spreading down her body. “L-l-luka, I d-don’t think I can—“ 

“I’ve got you, baby, I won’t hurt you,” he purred, nuzzling her. “I’ll take care of you. You don’t have to do a thing, except—“

“Luka!” she gasped. 

“That.” He paused suddenly and chuckled. Marinette whined involuntarily when his hand stopped moving. 

“W-what?” she asked.

“Nothing.” He resumed his attentions, but Marinette grabbed his wandering hands. 

“N-no, really, w-w-what?”

Luka sighed, though he was smiling. “I swear I’m not making fun of you. I would never.”

“Okay...I t-trust you.”

“It’s just,” he said between soft kisses to her neck and shoulder. “You usually have a little trouble saying my name.” He pressed his fingers to her lips before she could apologize. “And that’s fine, it’s never bothered me. It’s just—“ he started to chuckle, the deep sound vibrating through her. “It’s just,” he kissed the spot next to her ear, and then murmured next to it. “You didn’t have any trouble screaming it.” 

Marinette was already flushed from his touch but she gasped and Luka’s chuckle turned to laughter at her outrage. 

Some time later, Luka sent Marinette to shower and made sure she had everything she needed. Then he went to the kitchen to get them both some coffee and nearly collided with Juleka. For a moment the siblings blinked at each other, each taking in the other’s smattering of hickeys and obvious sex hair.

They both lifted a fist in unison and bumped them together. “Should I make enough coffee for you and Rose?” Luka asked as they turned into the small kitchen. 

“Just me,” Juleka said, going to a different cabinet. “Rose drinks tea, I’ll make it.”


	4. Come a Little Closer

Luka rolled his eyes to the sky and prayed for patience as Marinette’s panicked voice echoed from his phone. “L-luka I have ssso mmmmuch to d-do, I c-can’t—”

“Yes, you can. I haven’t seen you in days and I know you’re not taking care of yourself. Gorgeous, put that shit down for five minutes and come downstairs and eat with me,” Luka said, voice gentle though his words were rough. “Or I’ll be miserable forever.” 

“B-but—”

“Miserable, Marinette. Heartbroken.” He smirked. “You’ll waste more time arguing with me about it than you will coming down here to eat and drink, so get your adorable ass out of that workroom right now, because I’m fully prepared to waste your time all damn night if that’s what it takes.”

“You j-jerk,” she muttered, and hung up the phone. 

Luka checked the time and sat down to wait, absolutely willing to call and bug her again if she didn’t come down. Marinette might be stubborn but he had an ace up his sleeve; as a model, Juleka had a pass to the design students’ building, and Luka was not above sending her up to march Marinette out here if that’s what it took, no matter what bribe it cost him.

Marinette was a beautiful disaster when she came outside, disheveled and tired and definitely grumpy.

“L-luka—” she began angrily, but Luka held up his hands to stop her.

“Bitch at me while you eat, Gorgeous, it’ll save time, because I’m not leaving until I know you’ve had some food and at least one bottle of water.” He cupped her cheek in his hand. “You’ve gotta eat, babe,” he told her tenderly, and then grabbed her by the hand and tugged her to the picnic table. “Sorry it’s just pizza and salad,” he said regretfully, pushing her gently to sit. “I wish I could cook like you, but this is the best I could manage.”

“I l-like pizza,” she grumbled, sitting down and opening the box.

“Ugh.”

“Says the g-guy who once ate mmmayonnaise s-sandwiches for a year ssstraight.”

“Damnit, Evan,” Luka muttered. He sat down next to her, close enough that his leg pressed against hers, and slipped his arm around her waist. “I know you’re stressed out,” he said, giving her a little squeeze. “I know you’re tired and deadlines suck, and it probably feels like nothing is going right even when you have everything under control. But you gotta take care of yourself, baby. If you don’t you’ll just end up more stressed out and more behind and things really will go wrong, so…” Luka pressed the bottle of water into her hand. “Eat. Hydrate. Make some time to take a break and go for a run, I know you need one, I can feel it.” He rubbed his hand lightly along the tight muscles of her back.

“I c-can’t believe you b-bullied me away from my work so you could give me a l-lecture,” Marinette said, mouth full. 

“In my defense, your father would have my ass if I let you work yourself into the ground,” Luka pointed out, nudging her to turn away from him. He dug his fingers into her shoulders. “You’re practically made of stone at this point,” he muttered. “Why do they have to put you under so much fucking pressure…”

“It’s a mmmajor b-big d-deal for a f-first year to put work on the runway in the end-of-year show,” Marinette reminded him. “I c-can’t ssscrew this up.” 

Luka snorted. “Yes, you can.” 

Marinette twisted around to stare at him. Luka shrugged. “You can. Babe, you’re barely starting out. You have so long to make your mark on the world. It’s easy to get all caught up in this,” he gestured vaguely to the school at large, “It’s happened to me too. But the truth is, university is only the first step, and you’re only in your first year. Even if you bomb horribly, it’ll suck and I will fully be there to buy you ice cream and build you a blanket fort so you can cry it out, but it’s not the end of your career. You’re here to learn, and that includes learning how to handle a screw-up gracefully and pick yourself back up and move on.” He took her face in his hands and leaned in to look in her eyes. “It’s going to be okay. I believe you’ll kill it, I truly do, but if you don’t, then that’s okay too.” He kissed her nose and let her go. “Now turn around, finish eating, and let me see if I can loosen up these steel cables you have in your shoulders just a little bit. Then you can take a breath, and go back inside, and do your best.”

Marinette blinked at him for a moment. Then she silently turned and continued mechanically eating her pizza. 

Luka bit his lip and worked on her shoulders, hoping he hadn’t made her mad. “I miss you,” he ventured softly.

“I mmmiss you t-too,” she replied with a sigh. 

Luka leaned forward and kissed her cheek, and then her shoulder, and slipped his arms around her waist. He sighed with both pleasure and relief when she leaned back into him. 

“I don’t actually like mayonnaise sandwiches,” he said quietly. “It’s kind of a long story, but...I did it for Jules. So there would be more lunchmeat for her. She was coming out of kind of a rough time and she wasn’t eating much. It scared me how thin she was, and I was just a kid, I couldn’t do much, but...it made me feel like I was helping. Mom and Jules and even Evan just think it was one of those weird whims kids get.” He sighed. “I’ve never told anybody the truth until now.”

Marinette sighed, and brought one hand up to rest on his arm. “I’m sssorry. I w-won’t tease you ab-bout it anymore.”

“It’s okay. It was a long time ago. Sorry, probably crappy timing to tell you about that.”

“I’m g-glad you d-did.”

Luka kissed her temple.

He could feel her relaxing in his arms as she slowly ate and drank, and was actually relieved when she turned in his arms and started to cry on his shoulder. She needed the release, and better like this, with him, than alone in the middle of the night where her projects would suffer. Luka just held her until she was finished. He pulled a moist towelette out of a pile he’d left on the table and helped her clean up her face a bit.

“Th-thanks, Luka,” she whispered. “Sssorry for being such a b-bitch.” 

“I love you, baby,” he told her, and kissed her, not even minding that she tasted like pizza. “Ready to go back to the trenches?”

Marinette nodded, and gave him a weak smile. Luka kissed her cheek. “I’ll be back tomorrow if I don’t hear from you or Alya that you’ve eaten. Set an alarm and make sure you’re drinking regularly, I know I don’t have to tell you how important that is. You can do this babe, but I want you to be alive and on your feet at the end of it.” 

Marinette’s smile brightened a little. “If y-you insssist.”

* * *

Luka was grinning ear to ear. He’d learned a lot about clothes since he’d started dating Marinette, but he still knew next to nothing about capital-F Fashion, and even he could tell that Marinette had blown everyone away. Her name was on everyone’s lips, and he was so proud he could burst, both of her and Juleka. He’d seen his sister walk before but somehow every time she slayed a runway he got a little bit choked up, thinking of how far she’d come. 

Luka was sure he wasn’t the only one looking for Marinette, so he opted to work slow circles around the ballroom that hosted the afterparty, armed with a water bottle in his hand and another in the pocket of his (custom-made and impeccably tailored) suit coat, since he was sure neither of them had had anything to drink in hours, looking patiently for her or for Juleka. He ran into Tom and Sabine a couple of times, who’d made the trip up to see the show, but they hadn’t had any more luck than he in finding her.

When he finally saw her, Marinette was talking to a tall blonde man about her own age, and something about her stance made Luka hesitate. He hung back a little to let a stream of people by, eyes on Marinette the whole time.

“I haven’t seen you since the recital,” the blonde man said, rubbing the back of his neck, and Luka saw Marinette blush red to her hairline.

“Oh, w-well, y-you know, you’ve b-b-b—“

“Been busy, yeah I have. You have too, though. I’d have called but I didn’t know if you’d want to talk to me after—I mean, I maybe didn’t handle that night the best, I was so surprised.”

Luka knew Marinette was mortified behind her plastic expression. Two and two quickly added up to_ Oh the hell you are pulling this _ ** _now_**_, asshole. _

“I mean...you were great, the song and all, and I’ve never heard you be so clear. It really changed my view of you, honestly. And you were fantastic on stage tonight, wow. Maybe we could get a drink some time, catch up?”

Marinette’s eyes flicked to Luka’s over blondie’s shoulder and that was all the invitation he needed.

“Babe!” Luka called, plastering a grin on his face as he slipped around the knot of people dividing them. He bounced over to Marinette and swept her up in a hug, lifting her off her feet. “That was amazing. You’re amazing. You worked so hard, I’m so proud of you.” He set her down, putting his arm around her shoulders, and offered her the water bottle. “Here, you need to drink something after that.” She took the bottle and drank obediently, and Luka turned to the man she’d been speaking to. “Sorry to interrupt. Nice to meet you, I’m Luka.” He offered his hand and the blond took it slowly.

“Adrien,” he offered.

“W-w-we wwwent t-to high school t-together,” Marinette supplied with a smile.

“It’s nice that you’ve kept in touch,” Luka smiled. “Did your parents find you, Gorgeous?”

“N-no,” sighed Marinette. “There’s actually a b-bunch of people I need to t-talk to ssstill, are you okay if I l-leave y-you?

“Sure, Gorgeous, do your thing.” Luka kissed her cheek and removed his arm. “I’ll be here when you’re done. Make sure you eat something, okay? I don’t want you to pass out. I know you’ve had a long day.” He smiled encouragingly. “You’re almost there. Just a little longer and then you can collapse and let me take care of you, okay?”

Marinette gave him a smile that was tired but genuine, and kissed him lightly, then turned to Adrien. “It wwwas g-good to sssee you, Adrien.”

“Yeah, really good, Marinette,” Adrien smiled. “You really do look great. And congratulations on the show.”

“Th-thank you.”

“Knock ‘em dead, babe.” Lula kissed her temple as she turned away.

Adrien looked doubtful. “Babe? Isn’t that...I don’t know, disrespectful?”

“That’s for her and me to decide,” Luka replied easily, his eyes still following Marinette as she powered through the crowd. He knew he had a lovesick smile on his face. “God, I’m so lucky. Isn’t she amazing? Well, you’ve been friends for a while, you know she is. And I almost missed out.”

“What?” Adrien managed.

“Yeah, she was into another guy when we met, but he turned her down. I’ll be grateful to that beautiful idiot until the day I die,” Luka sighed, shaking his head.

“You don’t worry about being a rebound?” Adrien asked stiffly.

Luka’s lovesick grin grew even wider. “Not at all,” he said dreamily. “I love her and she loves me and I’m sure as hell not dumb enough to ever let her go. Man, did you see her up there tonight? I thought I knew how to own a stage, but she makes me look like an amateur.”

“Yeah, she was pretty incredible,” Adrien said quietly. “I’ve been to a lot of fashion shows and that was pretty spectacular even by professional standards, let alone student work.”

“Oh, you’re into this kind of thing? I’ve been to a few because my sister models, but this is the first time I’ve really paid attention. Did Marinette get you into it?”

“No, I was kind of born into it.” Adrien smiled wryly and gestured to the wall behind Luka. Luka turned and saw a blown-up, framed magazine cover. The model in the shot was clearly Adrien. “I was the lead model for my father’s brand for years.”

“Oh,” Luka chuckled. “Well, it’s nice to hear positive things from the voice of experience. I’m sure Marinette values your opinion.” He clapped Adrien on the shoulder. “Nice to meet you, but I better catch up to my girl. Enjoy your evening!”

* * *

“If you’re here to lecture me about how I should have gotten a flu shot,” Luka mumbled, half into his pillow where he’d been face down on his bed praying to die for the last three days, “Juleka beat you to it.”

“N-no,” Marinette smiled, closing his bedroom door behind her. “I’m h-here to lecture y-you on t-taking c-care if yourself while you’re sssick. I d-don’t think you g-get to complain, it’s mmmy t-turn. Get up, y-you’re t-taking a shower.”

Luka protested and grumbled, but his freakishly strong girlfriend manhandled him out of bed and, shivering, he stumbled to the shower. For a while he just stood under the stream with his forehead leaning against the tile, but eventually the warm water revived enough of his will to live for him to reach for the soap. With the rest of him clean, he even felt motivated enough to wash his hair. 

He got out of the shower feeling refreshed, but a little shaky. Marinette had clearly come in and out without his noticing; his crumpled clothes were gone from the floor and clean ones were folded on the counter. Luka smiled a little when he found a shirt he loved but she hated on top of the pile (_”It’s comfy!” “It’s d-dire, is wwhat it is, ugh.”). _He got dressed and shuffled back to bed, where he found as he collapsed that his sheets had been changed. Luka grudgingly admitted to himself that he felt much more human just for being clean.

Marinette came back in with a tray (did they even own a tray) with a bowl of soup and some toast on it. Luka grimaced a little at the idea of food, but what little he could smell didn’t turn his stomach. 

“J-j-juleka said you h-haven’t thrown up ssssince yesterday, ssso I thought you could t-try sssome sssoup? It’s mmmostly r-rice with a little b-bit of chicken. C-can y-you t-try it?” 

“You made it?” He pushed himself up so that he was sitting up in the bed, leaning on the headboard. He loved Marinette’s cooking, but he wasn’t very hungry and he was so tired…

He closed his eyes as Marinette ran her fingers through his hair gently. His contented hum turned into a hacking cough. Marinette pressed a kiss to his cheek. “P-poor baby, you’re ssstill burning up. I know y-you d-don’t feel like it, but p-please eat.” 

Luka blinked stupidly. It was a far cry from his mother’s gruff, “eat, son” but it was just as hard to disobey. The soup was bland but comfortably warm, and it felt good slipping down his raw throat. He managed to eat about half of it and one piece of toast before giving Marinette a pitiful look. She took the food but set a glass of juice in front of him. He sighed and began sipping it carefully while she went back to the kitchen. By the time he had finished the glass, she was back with a mug of hot lemon tea with honey. 

“You spoil me,” he sighed, as she climbed up the bed and snuggled into his side. He put his arm around her, letting her take some of his weight instead of the headboard. “It’s really nice, actually,” he added after a moment. “My mom’s more the tough love and independence type, so...” he shrugged, too fuzzy-headed to finish the thought.

“I’m n-not t-too bossy?”

Luka’s attempt to snort resulted in another coughing fit. Marinette grabbed the mug before he could spill hot liquid all over himself. “Sorry,” he said, clearing his throat. “Anyway, I’m pretty sure my mom believed she could just order me to get better and make it happen. So no, you’re not too bossy.” He sighed. “Fuck, I’m tired.” 

Marinette set the tea on his nightstand and kissed his cheek. “G-go ahead and lay d-down if you wwwant.” She shifted away so he could pull off his shirt and flop back down on his belly, hugging his pillow. “C-can I stay with y-you?” Marinette asked. 

“You shouldn’t,” he sighed. “You’ll get sick too, and I wouldn’t wish this on my worst enemy, let alone you.” 

“_I _ actually g-got a flu shot,” she huffed.

Luka groaned and buried his face in his much fresher pillow. “Not a guarantee,” he mumbled. Still, he didn’t really want her to go and he’d already coughed all over her at least once, so…”Yeah, you can stay. Please.” He sighed, coughing again. “God, I’m so fucking tired. And my ribs hurt.” 

Marinette made a sympathetic noise, then got out her tablet and set it up on his nightstand, turning on a replay of some fashion show or other she’d been assigned to watch. Then she pushed his blanket down to his waist, sat down next to him, and began moving her nails rhythmically across his bare back. 

Luka moaned. “I’m gonna kiss you dizzy when I’m not so gross,” he mumbled. 

He felt a soft kiss on his shoulder. “L-looking forward t-to it. Sssleep. I’ll b-be here.”

Despite the aches in his body, the heavy feeling in his head, and the effort it took to move air in and out of his lungs, Luka smiled. 

Just before he fell completely asleep, he felt her pull the blanket up over him, and the press of her body as she laid down beside him, laying her head on his back. _ I’m gonna marry that girl someday_, he thought hazily.

* * *

All four boys stood and stared at the building.

“Well there goes our game,” muttered Miles. 

Evan sighed. “Steve, you complete—”

“Relax, guys, I got it,” Luka said, shoving Evan lightly to stop his tirade. He turned toward the picnic area and bellowed, “Hey Gorgeous!”

Marinette turned around, and Luka motioned her over. She smiled at the other girls and then jogged over to him. “Getting y-your ass k-kicked and nnneed mmme to b-bail me y-you out?” she teased.

Luka kissed her temple, grinning as he draped an arm over her shoulder. “_Someone_ who shall remain nameless,” he glared over her head at Steve, “Got a little too enthusiastic and unfortunately, he has a great arm and crappy aim.” He pointed to the roof where the ball had landed. “Can you help us out?” 

“Mm,” Marinette said thoughtfully, eyeing the building, and then she bumped him with her hip. “You j-just w-want mmme to show off.”

“I do love watching you act like a superhero, you know that,” he agreed. “But we really did lose the ball, I swear.”

Marinette sighed, and began taking off her jacket. “You owe mmme.” 

“Oh, baby, you know I’m good for it,” Luka grinned, wiggling his eyebrows at her as he took the jacket she handed him.

“You guys are gross,” Evan muttered behind him. “I don’t know how Juleka puts up with you.”

Luka snorted. “She’s worse, that’s how. Now if you want the ball back, you better ask the lady nicely.”

Evan and Steve exchanged a look, and Miles looked similarly perplexed. “You can’t be serious,” Steve said. “How’s she going to do that?”

“That d-didn’t sound like a p-please,” Marinette sniffed, folding her arms.

“Please, Gorgeous,” Luka said, slipping his arm around her and squeezing her hip. “Show ‘em what you got, babe, I can’t wait to see their faces,” he murmured in her ear. 

“You owe mmme,” she repeated, flicking his forehead. 

“Don’t push me into saying something dirty you’ll just get mad at me for saying in public,” Luka warned her, laughing. 

“Yeah, yeah,” Marinette said, shaking out her arms and then her legs, then doing a few easy stretches.

Luka folded his arms and grinned back at his friends before turning his gaze back on Marinette.

“I still don’t under—” Steve cut off as Marinette took off running toward the building. She ran up a good chunk of the wall, caught a second story windowsill and pulled herself up it, then swung off to the side to grab nothing Luka could see and haul herself up the building like a spider. He tore his eyes from her for just long enough to take in the wide-eyed stares of his friends and appreciate their expressions. All the boys gasped as she made a leap to catch the edge of the overhang.

“Fuck me,” Evan muttered under his breath.

“In your dreams, jackass,” Luka said, shoving his best friend again before turning back to the building just in time to see Marinette swing herself up over the top of the building. “She’s mine. And I am so hers,” he sighed, not even trying to hide the goofy smile on his face.

“God, what must she be like in bed,” Steve muttered as they watched Marinette reverse her climb down the building, ball in hand. He winced when Miles smacked him upside the head.

“Respect, man,” Miles admonished.

“What? We were all thinking it!” Steve protested. 

“Wouldn’t you like to know,” was Luka’s smug reply. “And just for the record,” he added, “I would put any one of you bastards in the ground for her, so keep your hands to yourself.” He gave Steve a withering look. “Assuming Marinette even left enough of you to bury if you tried it. I’ve seen her take down guys who got handsy at the club. Pretty sure the lead bouncer offered her a job last time.”

Marinette jogged up, and tossed the ball into the group of staring boys. It bounced off Steve’s head. 

“Thanks, babe,” Luka said, kissing her forehead. “You’re the best. Have I mentioned I love watching you work?” 

Giggling, she slapped his cheek lightly and gave him a wink, then headed back to the crowd of girls at the table, most of whom were staring just as slack-jawed as the guys.

“So,” Luka said, scooping up the ball. “Are we playing or what?”

Evan chuckled. “You know I don’t think I’ve said it before, but I’m happy for you, bro. Jealous as hell, honestly, but really happy for you.” They exchanged a fistbump as they got in position, but Luka was shaking his head.

“You don’t know even half of how amazing she is,” he said fondly. “Gorgeous and strong and fearless is barely even scratching the surface.”

Evan chuckled. “Dude, you have got it _ bad._”

“I’m a lost cause, don’t even try to rescue me,” Luka said cheerfully, waving at Marinette.

* * *

_ Guy’s night _ was probably one of Luka’s least favorite traditions. Maybe it was because he’d lived so much of his life surrounded by women, but he just...tended to find he liked people a lot less after sitting through a guy’s night with them. The stuff guys were willing to say when girls weren’t around could be...ugh. 

This group, though, this was okay, even if poker wasn’t exactly his game of choice. Evan, and Marinette’s longtime friend Nino who was also in the music program, Evan’s friend Miles, and Nino’s friend Kim, who didn’t go to their school but lived nearby. 

Luka was actually enjoying himself when his phone rang on the table. 

“Oooh, that’s a forfeit,” Evan shook his finger at Luka. “No girlfriends on guy’s night.”

Luka rolled his eyes and slapped five Euros on the table. “Worth it,” he told Evan, as he picked up the call. “Hey babe, what’s up?”

“L-l-l—” She cut off in a choked noise. 

Luka frowned. “Easy, babe, I’m here.” He shook his head slightly, brow furrowed as he tried to understand her. He glanced at Nino, who was giving him a concerned look. “Babe, I’m sorry, I can’t—I can’t understand you, I’m so sorry, can you...can you slow down or something?” He frowned. “Babe, are you crying? Listen, can you just tell me where you are? I’ll come to you, okay?”

“What’s wrong?” Kim demanded, and Luka shook his head, covering the speaker with his hand. 

“I can’t understand a word she’s saying, she’s never been this bad.” Over the phone he heard another voice talking to Marinette, but he couldn’t hear the words. After a moment there was a rustle. “Marinette?”

“It’s Juleka,” his sister answered. “Marinette’s at our place and obviously she’s really upset. Come home, I’ll try to calm her down and figure out what happened.”

“Okay,” he relaxed a little, knowing a Juleka would take care of her. “Thanks Jules, tell her I’ll be there as soon as I can.” He hung up without waiting for an answer. “I need a ride,” he said to the room.

“I’ve got you,” Nino replied, standing up immediately. “I came in the van.”

“Thank you,” Luka said, reaching for his wallet to cash out hurriedly. Evan grabbed his wrist.

“Don’t worry about that, we’ll figure it out. You too, Nino, we know you’re good for it. Go take care of your girl, Luka. Call me if you need anything.” 

“Same,” said Kim immediately. 

“Thanks, guys.” Luka flashed a quick grin as he tripped over his chair trying to get away from the table. Nino caught him and steadied him. 

“Easy, you gotta stay calm, dude.” Nino snorted softly. “Never thought I’d be saying that to you.” 

“I’ll be calm when we’re there and I know what’s going on,” Luka sighed as he grabbed his jacket. He and Nino hurried down the stairs and into Nino’s van. 

“Sorry about the mess,” Nino said as Luka shoved aside fast food wrappers.

“Don’t worry about it,” Luka said absently, pulling out his phone to let Juleka know he was on his way. A few minutes into the ride, she called him back.

“There was an accident at the bakery and Marinette’s father was injured,” Juleka told him in her succinct way. “It’s not life threatening, but he’s in the hospital. Honestly from the texts she showed me it sounds like her mom has things under control, but I don’t think Marinette’s going to be okay until she sees him. I’ll have a bus schedule ready by the time you get here, do you want me to go ahead and book tickets and pack your bag?” 

“Please,” Luka said in relief. “Just make sure we have enough time to get to the station, we’ll have to pack for Marinette too. See if you can get her roommate’s number and text it to me, I’ll call and ask her to pack for Marinette. How’s she doing?”

“Better, but not great. I’m doing my best.”

“Thanks, Jules. Really.”

“Don’t be stupid,” she huffed. “See you when you get here. I’ll let you know if anything happens.”

Luka hung up and relayed everything he’d been told to Nino. 

“Aw, man,” Nino muttered. “Marinette’s usually great in a crisis but she’s really close to her family, and being here where she can’t do anything, that’s a recipe for a meltdown.” 

“Yeah,” Luka fretted. “She’s really upset.” He glanced at Nino. “Any advice? You’ve known her longer.”

“It’ll help if you can give her something to do,” Nino replied after a moment of thought. “Marinette’s brain goes about thirty times the speed of everyone else’s, so you gotta give her something to do or she’ll get stuck in a loop and all that energy comes out in bad ways.”

“Got it,” Luka said, texting Juleka. “I know it’s a lot to ask, man, but can you hang around and run us back to Marinette’s dorm and then the bus station?”

“I’ll do anything you need,” Nino told him. “Marinette’s been my friend forever and I’ve known Tom and Sabine almost as long, so you can bet I’ll do anything you need. If I could I’d drive you myself, but I don’t think you’d get there any faster in this clunker.”

“This is more than enough,” Luka assured him, and then dialed his phone.

Anarka picked up on the first ring, voice concerned. “Luka, what’s going on?”

“I’m okay, Maman—”

“Ah, good.” 

“—but I need help.”

“What can I do?” Anarka asked briskly. 

Luka smiled.

* * *

“We’re here, babe,” Luka told her gently, and Marinette blinked open sticky eyes. “Stay put for a second, I’ll get our things down.”

Marinette did as she was told, rubbing at her raw face while Luka got their bags and his guitar case down from the bus’s luggage rack. Some detached part of her mind wondered if he brought the guitar out of habit or if he really just couldn’t bear to be without it for any length of time. He was gentle as he took her elbow and helped her into the aisle. 

They stood looking around for only a moment, when Luka spotted his mother and turned Marinette in her direction. 

Anarka Couffaine wasn’t a particularly large woman, but there was something extremely solid about her. Her feet were planted, her hands on her hips, and the small crowd parted around her. She had a long coat buttoned over her usual vibrant attire, though her bracelets could be seen peeking out at her wrists. 

A thread of nervousness trickled down Marinette’s spine, though she felt Luka sigh in relief beside her. His hand on her back kept them moving over to the imposing woman. Marinette suddenly became aware that she must look terrible, and she winced a little at the kind of first impression she must be making. 

Anarka’s clear blue eyes pierced her, taking in her pale face and red-rimmed eyes and messy hair, but all she said was, “Luka said you can ride?” Her tone was brusque, but not unkind. Marinette nodded, and Anarka handed her a helmet. “Come on then, I’ll get ye t’ where y’need t’go.” Anarka looked around Luka. “And you, my boy, get ye to th’ boat an’ get some rest, aye? I’ll take care of her, never fear.”

Luka smiled. “I know. Thanks, Maman.”

Anarka just tutted and hustled Marinette onto the motorbike. Marinette broke away just for a moment to hug Luka tight. “Th-thank you,” she whispered, and felt him kiss her head. 

“Go on, go see your dad. Text me when you can, and I’ll see you in the morning.” He exchanged a look of some kind with Anarka over his head, and then he slung his bag and his guitar over his shoulder and started walking. Marinette put on the helmet and slung her own bag across her body, and then climbed on the bike behind Anarka.

It physically hurt to leave Luka behind as the bike roared off, and perhaps she clutched a little harder to Anarka than necessary. He’d been such a rock for her all evening, but it was past one in the morning, and even used to odd hours as he was, he had to be getting tired. She’d slept a bit on the bus but she doubted he had at all. 

The hospital loomed into view, and to Marinette’s surprise, instead of pulling up in front of it, Anarka peeled off into the parking lot and parked the bike. When Marinette got off, Anarka did too, stowing both helmets. She put her hand on Marinette’s back as Luka was wont to do, and walked with her to the front desk.

Anarka almost got into a fight with the clerk on duty when he refused to give them any information, citing privacy laws. Fortunately, Marinette was able to get Sabine on the phone, and she rushed into the lobby just in time to cut off Anarka’s rapidly raising voice. 

“You got here so fast,” Sabine gasped, hugging Marinette. “Oh, honey, there was no need for all this.”

“There w-was,” Marinette insisted simply. “C-can I see him?”

“Well, as you’re here, you might as well come up,” Sabine sighed. She looked at Anarka and opened her mouth, but Anarka spoke before she had a chance.

“Where do they have ye stowed?” she asked. “I know your lass hasn’t eaten, and you probably haven’t, either. I’ll dig up some grub and meet you at the room, if that’s amenable.”

“Mmmadame C-couffaine—” Marinette began, cursing her stutter in front of this imposing woman. 

“Ah, none of that. Call me Anarka, or Captain Anarka if ye must.”

“C-captain,” Marinette smiled. “Y-you’ve done ssso mmuch, and you must be tired too—”

“Nonsense,” Anarka huffed. “The room number, now, let’s not waste any more time throwin’ words in the wind, lass.”

“It’s 327. You’re Luka’s mother?” Sabine asked, putting her hands on Marinette’s shoulders. “I’m Sabine Cheng, Marinette’s mother. Thank you for seeing her here safely.” 

“Ah, no need for that, either,” Anarka smiled. “The Couffaines don’t fuck around when it comes to family—” Marinette bit back a slightly hysterical giggle at the way her accent formed the curse word “—and if yer girl ain’t family yet, well, by the look in my boy’s eyes, she’s not far off.” Anarka winked at Marinette, who blushed. “Go, see yer pa, and I’ll be back with somethin’ to keep you all going.”

“H-how’s he d-doing?” Marinette asked as Sabine walked her to the elevator. 

“He’s in quite a bit of pain, but the doctors tell me that’s a good thing,” Sabine told her. “He’s on a pretty heavy dose of drugs though, so be prepared. It’s mostly his hands and one of his forearms. The side of his neck is burned, but it missed his face, which is a relief. You know your father doesn’t mind a few burn scars but he’d be devastated if his mustache was damaged.” The two shared a giggle that lasted longer than it probably would have under other circumstances.

“I d-didn’t d-do anything,” Marinette confessed. “B-by the t-time I c-calmed down enough to function, L-luka had us ready t-to g-go, t-tickets booked and all.”

“Luka came with you?” Sabine asked in surprise.

Marinette nodded. “There w-wasn’t r-room on his m-mother’s bike f-for b-both of us, ssso he went home to sssleep. H-he ssaid h-he would c-come in the mmmorning.”

“That boy,” Tom said gruffly, and then he sniffled. “He’s such a good kid.”

“Oh my,” Sabine murmured. “That’s the drugs talking. Not that he doesn’t like Luka,” she corrected quickly, “But the waterworks, that’s the morphine.”

“Are you in p-pain, P-papa?” Marinette asked, coming to his side. 

“Ah, _ma petite_.” Tom patted her with his uninjured arm. “I’m fine. I feel a little floaty, but that’s all.” He winced. “Mostly.”

Marinette felt tears welling. She leaned carefully over the bed and hugged her father. “Now, now,” Tom said, stroking her hair. “You must be so tired, _ma petite_.” 

“I’m f-fine now that I know y-you’re okay,” she sniffled, and then Tom’s eyes welled up, and for a few minutes they cried together while Sabine sighed and patted Marinette gently. 

Fortunately, they were all composed when a firm knock sounded on the door. Sabine answered it and found Anarka loaded down with food and coffee. “I asked Luka what I should get,” she commented as she brought it in and set it down. “Tea for you,” she said, handing an insulated cup to Sabine.

“Oh, thank you so much,” Sabine sighed, taking the cup. 

“Hot chocolate for ye, lass. Hope it’s the way ye like it. My boy was very specific.” She rolled her eyes and Marinette giggled as she took the cup. 

“Th-thank you.” 

“And coffee for me,” Anarka sighed, picking up the last cup. “Sorry,” she said, turning to Tom. “I figured they wouldn’t be wantin’ ye to have outside food.”

Tom sighed mournfully. Marinette gave him a sip of her hot chocolate, which made Anarka grin. 

“I’ll be in the waiting room, if ye need anything,” Anarka told them. “If either of ye want to go home, I’m happy t’ take ye, or t’ stay here and keep an eye on things.” 

“That’s _ very _ kind, Ma—ah, Captain,” Sabine said warmly. “But I hate to inconvenience you. It’s really not necessary for you to stay. Or you either, dear,” she said, looking at Marinette. “Really, everything is under control. You could go home and rest.” Marinette just jutted her lip out and folded her arms. “Or not,” Sabine sighed.

Anarka barked a laugh, crossing the room to clap a hand on Marinette’s shoulder. “Ah, ye’r a good lass. Alright then, I’ll be out there if ye need me, and not another word about it. I promised Luka I’d look after ye, and that’s what I’ll do.” 

“W-well,” Marinette said, her voice sounding small in her own ears after Anarka’s..._ rich _ tones. Suddenly Luka’s claim that she had once been a rock star sounded less aggrandized. “At l-least she ssseems to like me.”

“Of course she likes you,” boomed Tom, matching Anarka’s volume, if not the fullness. “Everyone likes you. Who wouldn’t like my Marinette?”

Marinette and Sabine exchanged a look, and then both began to giggle with the kind of hilarity only ever born from exhaustion.

* * *

Anarka Couffaine sat in the waiting room, trying to keep her eyelids from drooping and ruefully reflecting that she wasn’t as young as she used to be, when her son finally walked in the room. He smiled and came to sit by her as she straightened and moved her boots off the chair next to her. 

“Hey, Maman,” he said in his gentle way, setting down the bag in his hand and leaning over to hug her with one arm while offering her a fresh cup of coffee with the other. “I brought you breakfast.”

“Ah, ye shouldn’t be spending yer money on me,” she huffed.

“Why do I work so hard if not to spoil the people I love?” he teased her with her own words. “Eat, and then you can head on home and get some sleep. I can take it from here.” 

Anarka ruffled his hair affectionately. “You’ve always been such a good boy, Luka. Better than I deserve, that’s fer sure.”

“Okay, now I know you’re tired,” Luka laughed. “You’re getting sappy on me, Maman.” 

“Hmm.” Anaraka sipped her coffee. “I like yer girl. She’s a strong one. And I don’t just mean her grip, though she had quite a hold on me last night as we rode.” 

Luka glowed in a way she normally only saw when somebody praised Juleka. “I really like her, Maman,” he admitted, cheeks red. 

“Aye, well, I suppose you’d best keep her, then,” Anarka sighed, as Luka got the food he’d brought out of the bag and placed it in front of her. 

“Eat, Maman. I’m going to go check on Marinette. I’ll come right back and then you can take off.” He looked into her face with a small frown. “Are you sure you can make it home? I can drive you and take the subway back again.”

“Now don’t be coddling me, boy,” she warned, raising a finger at him. “I’m tougher than I look.”

Luka grinned and raised his hands in surrender, but before he could say anything, Marinette shuffled through the waiting room doors, looking rather dead on her feet.

Anarka watched Luka’s face soften as he immediately got up and went to her. Anarka could see some of the tension melt away from them both as soon as he touched her, and Marinette smiled up at him softly as she leaned into his embrace.

Yes, that was the right kind of girl for her boy, Anarka decided. Strong enough to stand on her own, bold enough to break some rules when need be, and soft enough to let him take care of her. Luka needed to be needed, had practically smothered Juleka when they were younger, tried to mollycoddle Anarka herself, even. There’d been a time where she thought it was your typical I’m-the-man-of-the-house bullshit, but eventually she’d come to accept it was just Luka’s nature. He needed a girl with good boundaries that wouldn’t take advantage of him but that didn’t resent his concern.

Not that Anarka’s opinion mattered, she could see that well enough. Luka was much too far gone for his poor old ma’s opinion to count. Well, well. She couldn’t help feeling the boy was a bit young to be so tied down to one person, but he knew best what made him happy, she supposed.

She sipped her coffee and picked at the breakfast Luka had brought her. After a few minutes he brought Marinette to sit next to her and insisted she eat, too. He pulled a couple more boxes out of the bag and disappeared to take them to Tom and Sabine.

“Th-thank you,” Marinette said quietly, after a few moments. “F-for all your h-help.”

“Eh, don’t mention it,” Anarka sighed. “How’s yer pa doin’?”

“Already t-trying to c-convince them to let him g-go home and open the b-bakery,” Marinette groaned. “Ssstubborn. Th-they’re w-worried about infection ssso th-they don’t wwant him t-to go j-just yet.”

“Probably wise to take precautions,” Anarka agreed. “I’d be just as antsy to get out of this stifling place, but burns aren’t something you can mess around with.” 

“He l-loves y-you a l-lot,” Marinette smiled. “L-luka, I mean, n-not P-papa, that would be w-weird, but—L-luka, he does. He loves y-you.”

“I know,” Anarka smiled. “I know he didn’t have it easy, nor Juleka neither, having me for their ma, but I do love those little demons too.”

“W-well,” Marinette said slowly, “I j-just th-think it says a l-lot, about how y-you’ve been there for them, th-that he knew he c-could c-call you for help and y-you’d be there, n-no question. And...I’m g-grateful, t-too. I know y-you’re t-tired of us th-thanking you, ssso this is the l-last t-time, I p-promise. Just, th-thanks for b-being there when he c-called, even th-though it was f-for mmme and not one of y-your own.” 

“Ah, lass,” Anarka chuckled, looking at her. “Don’t think I’m blind just because I wear glasses.” She winked a blue eye behind her red-rimmed glasses. “I can see as clear as anyone how my son feels about you, so don’t go acting like you aren’t as good as family in my eyes. Juleka’s too, if I know her at all.” 

Marinette blushed and looked down at her hands. 

“Well, well,” Anarka said, putting her empty coffee cup down. “I’ll be off then.”

“D-don’t you w-want to wwwait f-for—”

“Nah, nah, he knows where to find me,” Anarka said, standing up and picking up her coat. “Of course you’re welcome on the Liberty anytime as well, lass. I’m sure I’ll see you again before you head back. Give your parents my best.” She patted Marinette’s head, and strode out, glad to be out of the oppressive place.

* * *

They only stayed the weekend. It was a bad time of the year to be missing classes or getting behind on assignments, and both of them had scholarships on the line. Marinette wanted to send Luka back and stay a little longer herself, but Sabine saved him that argument by insisting that there was nothing Marinette could do that one of their regular part-timers couldn’t do, and gently but firmly ordered her back to school. 

Luka could feel the tension Marinette had been holding onto all weekend flow out of her as soon as they were seated on the bus. Luka held her wordlessly while she had a little cry, but it only lasted a few minutes. 

“Th-thank you,” Marinette said quietly, wiping the last tears away. “F-for everything.” 

“I couldn’t have done anything else,” he shrugged, and she snuggled into his chest. It felt so good to have her there, back in his arms, warm and solid. 

“Th-that’s what mmakes you so amazing,” she said quietly, and he blushed at the simple, matter-of-fact way that she said it. 

“You’d do the same for me,” he pointed out, keeping his voice low as well. “That makes you amazing too, doesn’t it?”

“Y-yep,” she said, scooting a little higher to nuzzle at the crook of his neck. “We’re just amazing.”

“Together? Yeah, I sure think so.” He closed his eyes as she settled and sighed. “Hey Gorgeous?” he said after a moment. He felt rather than heard her interrogative hum. “I’ve been thinking and I’d need to talk to Juleka, obviously but...move in with me?”

Luka felt the curve of her smile against his neck, and then let out a small gasp as she turned her face just enough to kiss his neck. “I’d l-love t-to,” she answered. “We’ll h-have to figure out some l-logistics f-first but...I’d r-really like that, L-luka, only...” 

Luka squeezed her a little tighter. “Only what?”

“I’ll really miss the cute delivery guy who brings my pizzas.”

Luka covered his mouth to keep his laugh from ringing out across the bus. “Tease,” he chuckled, when he got himself under control.

“Hm.” His breath hitched as her fingers teased the collar of his shirt. “You like me that way.” 

“I like you every way,” he said affectionately, and then cleared his throat. “You wanna stay at my place tonight? And basically any night you want to until we get the rest of that stuff worked out? I mean, every night’s good with me, I’m just saying...”

Marinette giggled. “T-tonight is a g-good start.” She sighed. “Let’s t-take a n-nap. I p-promise not t-to t-tease anymore until we g-get home.”

“Sure, Gorgeous.” Luka leaned his head back against the seat

”L-love you,” she said sleepily.

“I love you too, babe.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One more chapter to go up tonight and then this little idea that grew way beyond my expectations will be complete.


	5. Never Gonna Let You Go

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm posting two chapters tonight, so you might need to back up one so you don't miss anything!

Luka groaned in annoyance at the sound of voices, trying not to wake up. It wasn’t working. Dimly he realized Marinette wasn’t pressed to him anymore. He shifted and turned his head to look for her. She was sitting at his desk with her tablet in front of her, probably watching another <strike>stupid</strike> educational fashion show. 

“Ugh, Marinette, baby come back to bed,” Luka moaned, only half awake. “Why are you even up, it’s the weekend?”

Marinette’s back stiffened and a voice exclaimed loudly in delight, “Mari, do you have a boyfriend? Bring him over, lemme see!”

“Who are you—“ Luka cut off as he rose up enough to see her screen, and then all sleepiness vanished. “Shit, is that Jagged Stone?” 

Marinette groaned, blushing crimson, but she sighed. “C-come here, L-luka.”

Luka looked down at the dark marks littering his not-at-all-dressed body. “But—“

“He w-won’t leave it alone until you d-do.” Marinette leaned her chin on her hand, pouting. 

A quick glance around showed him there was no way to get pants on without showing off more than he wanted to. Luka sat up, wrapping a blanket from the bed around his waist, and went to Marinette. He put one arm on the chair behind her and raising the other hand in greeting as he leaned over Marinette’s shoulder. “Uh, hi.”

“Nice,” Jagged grinned. “Thank God he’s not some boring blonde poster boy, I knew my Mari had rock ‘n roll taste.” Marinette put her hand over her face and groaned again. “What’s your name, kid?”

“Luka. Luka Couffaine, sir.”

“Ugh, don’t sir me—wait, did you say Couffaine?” Jagged’s face got huge as he leaned in, eyes crinkling. “You related to Anarka Couffaine?” 

Luka blinked stupidly. “Ah, she’s my mom.”

“What?” Jagged exclaimed, clearly delighted. “You’re Nanarchy’s boy?”

“Nanarchy,” Luka repeated. “Uh, yeah, I think that was one of her stage names a while back.”

“Rock ‘n roll, we were partners like, a million years ago! Wild!” He laughed, and then leaned in and winked at Marinette. “Keep this one, Mari, if he’s got even a quarter of his mother’s talent then he’s almost as rock ‘n roll as me.” He pointed at them through the screen. “But you better be taking good care of my Mari, you know what I mean?” He waggled his eyebrows. Luka choked trying not to laugh, and he and Marinette both blushed hotly. 

“J-Jagged!” Marinette snapped. 

“Yeah, yeah, don’t be coy with me, I know the score,” Jagged giggled. Luka felt some of his illusions about the rock god shatter at the sound. “All right, I won’t keep you kids any longer. Clearly you have better things to do than talk to me. You got what you need Mari?”

“Y-yes, J-Jagged. I’ll sssend Penny sssome sk-sketches by Friday.” 

“All right then, we’ll chat again later. And Mari?”

“Y-yes?”

Jagged winked again. “Get it, girl.” The screen went black. 

For a moment they were both frozen.

Then Luka threw himself back on the bed and laughed. “I cannot believe that just happened,” he chortled. “He calls you ‘my Mari’?” 

“He’s Ammmerican,” she sniffed. “He probably doesn’t th-think about what it mmmeans.”

“If anybody gets to call you husband it should be me,” Luka grinned, rolling over to look at her. 

“Absolutely n-not. And ssstop laughing,” she complained as he dissolved into laughter again.

“I just met my rock idol, basically naked and clearly well fucked—I still can’t believe you literally ripped my shirt apart with your bare hands by the way—“ 

“I’ve b-been sssstressed,” Marinette huffed. “And I hated th-that shirt anyway.” 

Luka laughed. “You realize after that I’m gonna buy like a dozen more now just so you can rip them off of me, because that was seriously hot, the way all your muscles flexed—” Marinette moaned and covered her face. “_ Anyway_, back on topic—_then _ it turns out my mom played with him back in the day.” He smirked at her. “And he told you to, I quote, ‘Get it, girl.’” He shook his head, cracking up again. “Babe I’m not gonna stop laughing for _ weeks_.”

Luka flopped back, sprawling his arms out on the bed. “What even is my life anymore,” he chuckled. He looked over at Marinette, who was clearly struggling to be mad at him, but was losing it in favor of a fond smile. “You make me so happy,” he told her. “C’mere.” 

Marinette sighed and stood, and shimmied out of her jeans before coming to climb up onto the bed next to him. She planted her hands on his chest and leaned over to look him in the eye. It didn’t work so well because he was happily ogling down the front of her shirt. Marinette rolled her eyes and put a finger under his chin tilting his face up to look at hers. “Up h-here.” 

Luka shrugged, grinning at her gorgeous blue eyes. “This view’s pretty good too, actually.” 

Marinette shook her head. “You’re t-terrible.”

“I’m in love,” he smiled. “Enamored. Bewitched.” His smile grew to a grin, watching her turn redder with every word. “Besotted. Absolutely head-over heels—” He caught her around the waist and flipped her under him. “Stupid in love,” he finished, and kissed her before she could scold him any more.

_ *mari is actually the French word for husband, in case that wasn't clear _

* * *

Luka thanked the server for his coffee. As soon as they turned away, he dropped his smile and gave the grey-haired dragon disguised as a woman who sat across from him a dark look. “This is a pointless meeting, Toni, you know what I’m going to say.”

“So say it, so we can get on with arguing about it,” his agent sighed, leaning back with her own espresso-laden abomination. 

“I’m not taking a gig that far away.”

“Luka,” Toni sighed, rolling her eyes behind the rims of her cats-eye glasses. “I’ve known you almost your whole life—”

“Why do you always bring that up?” he wondered, sipping his (overpriced, but Toni was paying) coffee.

“—And I have never in all that time seen you act so much like your mother,” Toni finished. “What gives? Don’t you think you should at least discuss it with this girlfriend of yours before you go turning down perfectly good opportunities?”

Luka raised his eyebrows. “What makes you think I haven’t?” 

Toni raised hers right back. “Anarka says she’s fiery and ambitious. What do you think she’s going to say when she finds out you’ve been sandbagging your own career to stay close to her?”

“I’m not,” Luka protested. “I’m not lacking for work. You’ve got me booked out for months after graduation, and you’re negotiating with Jagged Stone to buy two of my songs—thanks to Marinette, may I point out. And _ she _ may be ambitious, but _ I’m _ not. I don’t need to be famous, I just want to make music, I don’t even care what kind or for whom, within reason. What I _ don’t _want is a life where we’re constantly pulled apart from each other. You want me to play a few days out of town here and there, that’s one thing, but this?” He lifted the stack of paper from the table and let it slap back down. “That’s months, Toni, and I’m not doing it.”

For a moment Toni just looked at him, drumming her fingernails on the table. “Rings cost money, Luka.”

Luka blushed hotly. “I know that.”

“It costs money to support a family.” 

“Yeah, that one you definitely don’t have to tell me,” Luka muttered, staring into his coffee. “I’m not doing badly, though. I mean, yeah, I could be making more if I did more of these jobs, but it’s enough, for right now.”

“Right now isn’t the problem,” Toni told him briskly. “But you’re supposed to be building the foundation for the rest of your career, not keeping yourself in a holding pattern, getting a reputation for being picky about jobs just like your mother, while you wait for your girlfriend to graduate. And just what’s going to happen then, anyway, hmm?”

“Come on, Toni,” Luka sighed, putting his face in his hands. “Are we really doing this?”

“Yes,” Toni replied, taking off her glasses and leaning forward. “I’m saying this not as your agent but as someone who used to change your diapers—you need to talk to your girl about these decisions you’re making.”

Luka gave her a lopsided smile. “Did you seriously just Clark Kent me, Aunt Toni?”

“Luka,” she warned.

“Yeah, I know, I know,” Luka sighed, turning his cup on the table. “But I _ like _ being here where I can support her. You have no idea how much stress they put her under, Toni—how much stress she puts _ herself _ under. I just, I don’t _ want _ to leave, not for that long, and I don’t want to be tied down to a band or a gig schedule that’s going to have me hopping all over Europe alone. At the same time, she’s still in school and I don’t want her to feel like I’m pressuring her or smothering her. We’ve—we’ve never really talked about the future in so many words but I know she’s got plans, it’s who she is. I don’t want to stop her from doing anything she wants to do. Even if I do convince her that this is really what I want, she’s got this stack of information on internships and some of them are in other countries and I don’t want her to feel like she has to decline anything to stay with me either, just because that was _ my _ choice, and—”

Toni rapped her knuckles on the table sharply, bringing him out of his spiral. “Talk. To. Her. Honestly, Luka, how you can manage to be so like your mother and so different at the same time is really mind-boggling.”

“How am I being like my mom?” Luka demanded, scowling. “If I were like her I’d just leave a note and disappear for three months.” 

“You’re like her,” Toni said, pointing a finger at him accusingly, “Because you’re deciding what you want by yourself without any discussion or input from anyone else, even the people who _ should _ be involved in this kind of decision-making. And you’re different because you’re doing it in the most self-sacrificing way possible instead of the most self-serving.”

“Harsh, Aunt Toni,” he muttered. 

“That’s why you both love me. I’m not afraid to call either of you out on your bullshit.” She smiled, softening just slightly, and reached over and patted his cheek. “I’m glad you’re happy, Luka. I can see this girl makes you happy. So don’t fuck it up over something so simple as not talking to her. Besides, she may see another angle that we haven’t considered. Don’t forget, too, if she’s already designing for Jagged Stone, the industry contacts you make will benefit her too. You can be her in with up and coming bands, and that could give her a big boost.”

Luka nodded slowly. “I’ll admit I hadn’t really considered that.”

Toni snatched the stack of unsigned contract papers up from the table and whacked him over the head with it. “That’s because you don’t actually know everything, smartass.”

Luka grinned as he covered his head with his arms. “Yes, Aunt Toni.”

“Now,” huffed Toni, “Now that you’ve actually told me no, I’m going to get on the phone with these guys and see if maybe we can work in a few appearances without committing to the whole set they asked for. You better keep your skills sharp, kid, because if you weren’t as good as you are, I’d be able to negotiate a lot fewer accommodations for your weird quirks.”

“Right.” Luka stood and hugged her as she got to her feet. “Thanks for everything, Aunt Toni. Even the advice.”

“Yeah, yeah, don’t get all mushy on me, I know what a softy you are,” Toni said, sliding her glasses back on. “I expect to meet this girl sometime.”

“I’d like that,” Luka smiled. “I think you’d get along.” 

“Please,” Toni snorted, grabbing her bag. “I get along with everybody.” She winked at him. 

“Safe travels, Toni.”

Luka sat back down at the table to finish his overpriced coffee and sighed. He knew Toni was right, he knew he needed to talk to Marinette about where they were going from here, especially with graduation hovering right around the corner for him. It shouldn’t have been complicated, she couldn’t possibly doubt that he loved her and wanted a future with her, as frankly stupid as he got around her even though they’d been dating for a couple years now. Even if you didn’t count the absolutely insane things he said when they were making love, he poured out his affection on a daily basis. He just...didn’t know how to bring it up without sounding like he was pushing for more than she might be ready for. Luka might be graduating but Marinette still had two years to go, and the last thing he wanted was to hold her back or distract her. 

Luka sighed, and finished the last of his coffee. Things were so good right now, he just hated to rock the boat.

* * *

“L-luka?” 

Luka looked up from where he was brooding at the table and realized Marinette was standing in the door. “Hey, Gorgeous,” he smiled as she came in and moved a chair over next to him. 

“Everyth-thing okay?” she asked, sitting down and sliding one arm across his shoulders. 

“Yeah, everything’s fine, I just—you know I met with my auntgent today,” he grinned, and she giggled at the nickname. “She said some things that were kind of making sense, and well...I guess we probably need to talk about how things are going to go the next couple of years, huh?” He glanced at her. “I mean, if—if you’re not ready to be thinking like that, it’s fine, I’m not trying to pressure you but I guess…” Luka cleared his throat, feeling like an idiot. “Well. I’m definitely thinking like that, about us being together, ah, long term, and I’d like to hear what kinds of things you’re planning, and tell you about the kinds of things I’m thinking, and...yeah. I mean it doesn’t have to be right now, I know you just got home and you’re probably tired and—”

Marinette stopped him with a gentle hand placed over his. “N-now’s good,” she smiled. “Let me j-just put the c-casserole I made last n-night in the oven and w-we’ll t-t-talk.” He frowned a little at the way she stumbled over _ talk _, and the blush that suddenly lit her cheeks. Before he could say anything, though, Marinette leaned in and kissed him, softly, but long and lingering. “B-because I’m d-d-definitely th-thinking th-that wwway t-too,” she said in as much of a rush as she could manage, and then she kissed his cheek and fled to their small kitchen.

Luka sat stunned for a short moment, and then took in a deep breath and blew it out slowly. He bit his lip to try to contain the grin that wanted to spread over his face, but it didn’t help much. When she came back, still blushing, but bright-eyed and looking like he felt, like trying to keep this much happiness inside might just put cracks in his skin so it could leak out. 

“You w-want to mmove to the c-couch?” she asked him. 

Luka shook his head slowly. “Here’s probably better. I don’t think I’d get much actual talking done there.”

Marinette giggled, and sat down beside him. No sooner had her butt hit the chair next to him than he had her around the waist, pulling her into another long and somewhat less innocent kiss. “Just to hold me until we’re done talking,” he teased, rubbing his forehead lightly against hers before kissing her lightly and letting her go. “Okay, um, plans.” He cleared his throat and put some distance between them. “You know, you want my five year plan, I can’t really give you that,” he sighed. “I don’t know, I don’t really have what you’d call career goals. I want to make music. I want to live comfortably. I want to be happy.” He leaned toward her, cupping her cheek as he looked in her eyes. “Do I see you in my future? You bet your sexy yet adorable ass I do, because you’re pretty critical for that last one.” 

Marinette blushed brilliantly red and he grinned and leaned in to kiss her. He kept it quick, though it made her shiver. “So lay it on me, babe, cause I know _ you’ve _ got a plan,” he said, sitting back. “What do the next few years look like to you?” 

Marinette held up a finger as she hopped up from the table. She went into the bedroom and came out with a thick book and a set of colored markers. She selected a teal blue marker and set it in front of him. “Th-that one’s f-for y-y-you,” she said, opening the book as she sat back down in her chair. “Ssso l-let’s change th-this from mmmy p-plan to _ our _ p-plan.” 

* * *

Congratulations were made, caps flew in the air, and at last the graduates were released back to their friends and family. He saw Marinette an instant before she saw him. She ran into his arms and he lifted her up and swung her around, her black gown billowing out around her. "Congratulations, Gorgeous," he said, setting her down and kissing her hair before releasing her to go into her parents' embrace. He turned to give his sister the same treatment, and then opened an arm to welcome in Rose. 

Luka ran his fingers through his hair as he watched the girls proudly make the rounds of hugs and kisses and congratulations from their assembled friends and family. Weirdly he felt more emotional right now than he had at his own graduation. Maybe because his just felt like a stepping stone while this one felt more like the end of an era. His life hadn’t changed all that much after graduation, but now everything was going to change. It had been four years since he met Marinette, and in that four years she had proved herself a rising star. While he and Marinette had talked and worked out ways for him to do some of the gigs Toni wanted him to do without taking him too far away for too long, Luka had remained resolved against going too far from the best thing that had ever happened to him, and quietly turned down more than one opportunity that would have required him to move.

But now Marinette had an internship in New York lined up that would take her away for a year. After four years of seeing her almost whenever he wanted, and two years of waking up with her...he was less excited for her than he felt he should have been.

It wasn't like they hadn't talked about it, and he had admitted he didn't really want her to go, but the opportunity was too important and when it was clear that _ she _ really did want to go, he supported and encouraged her. It was only for a year, anyway. They'd have a few months together before she had to go, and they'd just have to make the most of the time. Luka already had a few plans for that. And then after she left, they'd just have to do their best.

Luka was pretty depressed about it, even so. He tried to keep his moping to himself, but right at this moment, it was a little hard. 

Luka shook off the gloom and berated himself for selfishness as they all separated into vehicles to go to the party set up for the graduates in the party room of Mrs. Cesaire’s restaurant. This was a big day, a big deal. Even his mom had come up for Marinette's graduation, which had surprised him a little. He ought to put his own worries aside and just be happy for her, for today at least. He could mope tomorrow.

He shook his gloom off as best he could, sticking close to Marinette but trying not to hover as they mingled and chatted. He was talking to Nino when Nino suddenly grinned and stepped back. Luka paused and looked around, and he realized that the small party had made room around him and Marinette, and were now circled around them watching expectantly. "Did I miss something," he wondered, and then he looked at Marinette as she took his hand.

Luka's eyes widened as she sank to one knee and took a shaky breath. "L-l-luka C-c-c-c—“ She grit her teeth in frustration. Stunned though he was, Luka’s free hand came up to cover hers and squeeze reassuringly. Marinette took a breath and tried again. “L-Luka C-couffaine, w-w-will you mmmarry mmme?"

Luka's mouth dropped open and he looked around quickly, immediately spotting his smirking sister.

"You knew! Juleka, you fucking traitor," he hissed. Juleka raised her eyebrows and pointed to Marinette, who was blinking up at him in nervous surprise, clearly not expecting that to be his first reaction. 

Luka reached down and took Marinette's other hand gently. "Babe, I would be honored to marry you," he said, gently pulling her to her feet. He shot another glare at his sister, digging in his coat pocket. "Which is why I asked my traitor of a sister who's apparently been laughing at me behind my back for God knows how long to help me pick out a ring." He took the box out immediately fumbled it. “Shit, my hands are shaking,” he murmured with an apologetic half-smile, once he had it secure again. “I wasn’t exactly prepared for this—well, I was, obviously but just not—just not right now. Not that I’m not happy! It's um, it’s really not much," he said, opening the box and carefully taking the ring out. Marinette gasped and Luka smiled when he saw Marinette's hand was shaking too as he lifted it. "But it would make me really happy if you'd wear it."

Beaming, Marinette let him slide the slender band with its tiny stone on her finger. Luka closed his hands around hers, gripping tightly, and the shaking stopped. They stood there for a moment, staring into each other’s eyes.

"Kiss already!" Alya hollered, and Luka chuckled, leaning down to press a kiss against Marinette's lips. Just a little one, because he knew she didn't like kissing in public.

But apparently they were making another exception today, because she threw her strong arms around her neck and wouldn't let him go until he kissed her much more thoroughly, to the cheers of their onlooking friends and family, Luka's mother and Marinette's father each easily overpowering the rest put together.

When he pulled back from the kiss he put his forehead against hers and laughed incredulously. “You little sneak,” he muttered, squeezing her.

“Sssorry, n-not sssorry,” she smiled.

“Holy fuck, we’re getting married,” he said wonderingly, feeling weak in the knees from the sudden rush. He was pretty sure his heart had either stopped or was beating so fast the individual pulses were indistinguishable. 

“Yep,” she giggled, and then their moment was over, because Tom couldn’t wait any longer, sweeping them both up into a giant bear hug, booming his congratulations and excitement. Luka just stood there stunned in his embrace as Alya and Nino got up on ladders and unveiled a _ Congratulations On Your Engagement _ banner beneath the banner for the graduates. Someone brought Marinette a tiara and a sash that said _ Bride _, and Tom and Sabine had a special cake ready.

“How did you even set all this up without me noticing?” Luka asked wonderingly. 

“I d-didn’t,” Marinette said, sounding embarrassed. “I t-told them I was g-going to ask y-you and th-they d-did the rest.” 

Luka just laughed and put his arm around her. “This was supposed to be your big day, Gorgeous,” he chided softly. “I was holding onto it because I didn’t want to steal your thunder.

“N-now it’s ours,” she shrugged. “I l-like ours j-just fine.” She giggled. “B-besides if I had w-waited until l-later I wwwould have exploded from anxiety.”

“That would be bad,” he smiled. “But how come I didn’t get a tiara?”

Marinette giggled. “Bend d-down.”

Luka did as she asked, and she moved her tiara into his hair and kissed his nose. “There.”

“One question,” Luka asked, straightening up. “Are we eloping or do I have to wait until you get back from New York?”

“Th-that depends,” Marinette grinned, grabbing his arm and turning him towards the small knot made up of her girlfriends and her mother, who were all giggling and bouncing and he could practically see hearts flying off them while wedding bells rang. “Who’d be t-telling _ them _ that we eloped? B-because it’s n-not gonna be mmme.”

Luka nodded slowly. “Okay. After New York it is.” He sighed.

“I l-love you,” Marinette said, slipping under his arm and snuggling against his side. 

“I love you too,” he smiled, squeezing her against him. 

For a moment they stood there, at peace and happy while their friends and family collectively lost their shit around them, 

“Hey Gorgeous?” Luka said after a moment.

“Hmm?”

He grinned. “I’m gonna marry you.”

Marinette giggled. “Y-you bet your ssssexy y-yet adorable ass y-you are.” She tugged his arm until he looked down at her and smirked. “Y-you’re mmmy f-fiancé after all.”

That had him grinning like an idiot all night long.

* * *

Marinette was learning a lot, opening a lot of doors, but she missed home, she missed her family, and her friends, and she missed Luka with every fiber of her being.

Although sleepy Skype Luka was a side of him she’d never seen before, and it was adorable. Luka was used to all kinds of odd hours and had an uncanny ability to fall asleep anywhere practically on command. She rarely got to see him tired and trying to stay awake the way she did these days.

He was telling her a story and she knew he was about ready to pass out because he was gesturing and cursing more than usual, as well as rambling a bit.

Suddenly he waved his hand and something caught her attention. Marinette squinted at the image, and when his hands came into view again, she interrupted him. “Luka, are y-you—are you w-wearing a wwwwedding ring?”

“Uh,” Luka floundered, turning red. “Oh, this?” He held up his left hand, which bore a simple silver band. “Yeah, it’s just...it’s something cheap I picked up. I mean, you’ve got your engagement ring and I know people still hit on you sometimes, but I just...I wanted something too. Mostly for when I’m doing a gig, you know. Some of the regulars were asking if I broke up with my ‘scary girlfriend,’” he made finger quotes, “And I started feeling like a piece of meat in a tank of sharks, so I thought this would be better. Beyond that I’m not sure it actually works as far as warning people off, but…It just makes me feel better to have it on. I mean, I’m taken, I’m yours, so...is...that okay?”

Marinette smiled, heart swelling. “Y-yeah. That’s really ssssweet, L-luka.”

He rolled over in their bed, propping his chin on his arms. “I miss you, Gorgeous.”

“I miss you t-too,” Marinette smiled. “But I th-think you better get s-some sssleep.”

He made something like a whine. “I’m gonna get Toni to book me a gig in New York,” he muttered.

“I’d l-love that,” Marinette told him. “I’ll b-bring all mmmy c-coworkers and show off my h-hot husband to b-be.”

Luka grinned like an idiot. 

“Who needs to sssleep,” Marinette told him. “Good night, Luka.” She reached for the controls.

“Hey Gorgeous?” 

Marinette paused.

“I love you,” he drawled sleepily. 

“I l-love you t-too,” she smiled, and shut off the call.

* * *

Luka was a patient guy. He waited patiently while Toni gave him hell about booking him in New York until she finally wound up her tirade with “I’ll see what I can do.” He waited a month until she did that, and then another two for the day to finally come.

He was ready and waiting when the cab came to take him to the airport. He waited in line and he waited for the plane and he waited (mostly by sleeping) through the long ass plane ride.

Luka’s patience ran out the second he was off the plane. Marinette was there somewhere, and wading through the airport crowds to get to where she would be made him grit his teeth in frustration. The customs line nearly made him tear his hair out. 

Finally he made it to the baggage claim, and he wanted to scream at the flood of people. Marinette was tiny, how was he ever going to—

Luka heard the voice he would know anywhere, in any crowd, call his name, and turned just in time to see her do a frankly insane trick off the wall to bypass the thickest part of the crowd. Luka had just enough time to brace himself and open his arms before Marinette took a flying leap into him, her body that he hadn’t felt in nearly six months slamming into his as her arms and legs wrapped around him.

Suddenly, all was right with the world again. 

“Hey Gorgeous,” he said, the words muffled into her neck as he hugged her tight. “Miss me?” He turned his face and nuzzled her jaw. “I hope so, because you know what it does to me when you jump me like that.” 

“I m-missed y-you,” she agreed, pressing a quick kiss to his lips. Not enough for the way he was feeling, but probably the right choice if he wanted to be able to walk out of here under his own power. Which they should probably do quickly after Marinette’s little wall stunt. He doubted security appreciated her moves the way he did. She probably felt the same, because she hopped down off of him, grabbed his hand, and started dragging him toward the baggage carousel. “I’m sssso excited you’re h-here,” she told him, flashing him a smile that made his legs weak. “I h-have ssso mmmany p-plans. A bunch of my c-c-coworkers are c-coming to your g-gig, and we have sssome w-wedding ssstuff to t-talk about.”

“That sounds like a lot,” Luka laughed, pulling her to a stop as she almost carried him past the carousel. “I hope you made time for me to show you how much I missed you.” 

“It’s on the l-list,” she giggled, turning to put her arms around his neck. “R-right after I t-take you home and c-climb you like a t-tree.” 

“You know I’m not really sure there’s anything in my bags I really _ need _,” Luka grinned. “They’ll keep it here overnight, right? I can just pick up my guitar in the morning.” 

“Aww, L-luka, y-you’d leave your g-guitar for mme? That mmight be the ssssweetest thing you’ve ever ssaid,” she giggled. 

He leaned down to speak in her ear, lowering his voice in a way he knew she loved. “Baby I’ve been missing you for months and I really don’t care how much I embarrass a bunch of strangers I’ve never seen before, so you better watch how much you tease me if you want to make it home without becoming a public scandal.” 

Marinette made a happy noise and snuggled into his chest. “Y-you b-better not b-be too busy the next few d-days.” 

“Yeah, about that,” Luka grinned as the carousel finally began to spit out luggage. “I came three days before the rest of the band. I’m all yours, babe. 

Marinette gave a little squeal and did her excited wiggle, making it really impossible for him not to gross out the people around him by kissing the hell out of her right there and then.

* * *

Connie had been excited to meet Marinette’s fiancé for months, and she wasn’t disappointed when he’d stopped by the office to bring her lunch a few days ago. He was just like Marinette’s stories and Connie was green with envy (in a happy for her friend kinda way). She jumped at the chance when Marinette invited her and a few of the other girls to see Luka play at a local club before the band he was working with came in for the big concert series.

“Your fiancé is so cute, Marinette,” Connie giggled. “And sweet! The things he says to you!” She put her hand to her forehead and mimicked a swoon. “I wish I could find a guy who talked to me that way.”

“When I ssstarted p-practicing mmmy English, he l-learned every American p-pick up l-line he c-could find,” Marinette giggled. “He’s t-terrible.”

Missy wrinkled her nose. “Doesn’t it make you worry, being so far away when he’s such a flirt?”

Connie watched Marinette closely for her response, and concluded that her incredulous laugh was sincere. “N-not at all,” she answered, still giggling. “Besides, he c-can d-dish it out, b-but he c-can’t t-take it,” Marinette laughed. “He b-blushes as mmmmuch as I d-do.” Connie sighed enviously.

“No way, mister smooth talker over there?” Missy snorted.

“D-definitely,” Marinette smiled. “Y-you’ll see.” She nodded toward the man himself as he made his entrance. He came straight over as soon as he spotted them, a huge grin on his face that belied his rocker look.

“Hey, _ salut ma belle _ ,” Luka leaned over Marinette’s chair and kissed her cheeks in that adorable French way. “ _ Ça va _?”

They had a quiet conversation in French that made Marinette blush and slap his arm. Luka laughed and kissed her cheek. 

“Hello ladies, may I join you for a bit?” he asked, pulling out a chair.

His accent was heavy and his vocabulary limited, but it didn’t make him any less attractive as far as Connie was concerned. Aside from being tall and handsome and well-built with amazing eyes, there was something shy and sweet about his smile, even when his mouth was saying something outrageous. He was always touching Marinette, either her hands or her legs or her shoulders or her hair. At one point he caught Connie staring (drooling) and he looked away quickly, blushing, and leaned more into Marinette’s space under the pretext of stealing her drink. Connie was embarrassed to be caught but his reaction was really cute. 

His phone alarm went off a few minutes later. Luka slid out of his chair. “It’s been fun, friends, but I must get ready to go on. I hope you enjoy the show.”

Marinette gave Missy a significant look. “L-Luka,” she called, and he turned back. She said something in French in a sultry tone, and Luka went red to the tips of his ears and spluttered. 

Connie and Missy both erupted in giggles, and Marinette gave Luka a sly smile and a wink. 

Luka clutched his heart. “_ Tu me tue, ma belle _ .” He blew her a kiss. “ _ Je t’aime, tu sais _.” Then he turned and jogged.

Connie sighed. “You’re so lucky, Marinette.”“_ Oui, oui _,” Marinette sighed happily, resting her hand on her chin, her small ring sparkling in the flashing lights. “I kn-know.”

* * *

They were discussing actually leaving Marinette’s apartment to get dinner when her phone went off. 

“Oh, n-no, it’s C-Chloe,” Marinette groaned. “She w-wants me to do ssssome alterations and she’s on h-her way over b-because of c-course she can’t wwwait.”

“Your boss’s daughter? The nasty one who won’t take no for an answer?” Luka grinned. “Can I fuck with her? Please? Come on baby, you pretend to scold me but I know you like it and I know you’re dying for some revenge. Please let me fuck with her.” 

“N-no!” Marinette exclaimed, slapping his chest. Luka pouted, until she said, “I wanna d-do it.” Luka laughed. 

“Let’s make it a team effort,” he grinned. “Put some lipstick on and come here.” 

Marinette grabbed a tube of lipstick and while she applied it, Luka pulled off his own shirt, and then partially unbuttoned and untucked the front of hers—artistically, so that it was suggestive and displayed the marks he’d left on her, without showing anything not meant for general display. He ran his fingers through Marinette’s hair as she put a smattering of lip prints amongst his own pattern of lovebites. 

She eyed him suspiciously as she put on a fresh coat of lipstick. “Are y-you sssure this w-will wwwork? I’m ssstarting to s-suspect your motives.”

“Trust me, gorgeous,” he grinned, and they kissed sloppily until he’d nearly forgotten they were supposed to be getting ready for company.

An obnoxiously loud knocking on the door reminded him.

Oh well, the breathlessness when Marinette answered the door with bruised and moist lips and hazy eyes just added to the effect. Luka was visible sprawled on the couch behind her, shirtless and with his belt unbuckled, covered in hickeys and lipstick marks. 

“Oh, h-hi, C-Chloe,” Marinette said in English, smiling brightly at the girl behind the door and the butler standing behind her holding a garment bag. “I w-wasn’t expecting y-you, d-did you nnnneed sssomethingg? Oh, I sssee you s-sent a text, I’m s-sorry I m-missed it. Mmmy fiance’s in t-town and we w-were kind of, um…” she giggled, and Luka felt so proud. He kept his eyes blatantly planted on her ass until he glanced up and smirked at the intruder as Marinette finished. “B-busy.

Chloe looked like she’d swallowed a lemon. “Ridiculous,” she muttered, her face turning red. “Utterly ridiculous! Forget it. I’m not leaving my dress with you while that _ peasant _ is in here. Ugh, who knows what would happen to it if I left it here with you and _ him, _you disgusting—ugh!” she sneered.

Knowing perfectly well that Chloe understood French, and that she wouldn’t likely assume he spoke English, Luka lounged over the arm of the couch and asked Marinette in French, “Is she asking to join us, Gorgeous? I mean, I don’t need anybody but you, but you know I’d do anything to make you happy.” 

Chloe turned red and spluttered. Luka laughed wickedly and winked.

“Ssssorry, Chloe,” Marinette sighed, looking over at Luka. “He’s all mmmine. Sssee you at w-work t-tomorrow.” She swung the door shut without turning away from Luka. They heard Chloe shriek at her companion and the sound of her heels as she stomped off down the hall.

Marinette ran the short distance between them, hopping over the coffee table to leap into his arms. She laughed as he smothered her with kisses. “I’m so proud, babe.”

“That was p-pretty ssatisfying,” she admitted, giggling. 

“Oh baby I’m a long way from satisfied,” Luka chuckled, nipping and nuzzling her neck. 

“I thought w-we were going to g-go out for d-dinner,” Marinette complained, even as she threw her head back and buried her fingers in his hair. 

“It’s early,” Luka pointed out between kisses. “We can go out later.”

Marinette groaned. “L-liar.”

* * *

Luka sighed, fidgeting with his carryon. 

“Ssstop mmmoping,” Marinette chided him. “It’s only sssix m-more mmonths. You mmade it th-this far.” 

“I did,” Luka agreed softly, uncharacteristically serious. Marinette put her hand on his arm.

“Sorry, Gorgeous,” he said, aiming a slightly wobbly smile down at her. “I’m kind of all out of the ability to pretend that it doesn’t suck to have you gone. Waking up by myself every morning. Coming home to an empty place and going to bed alone. Never having you in the audience when I play. Not getting to see the things you’re making and hear you talk about them. Not seeing your face light up when you get a new idea. Cooking for myself,” he nudged her, but the teasing just didn’t have its usual force. “Feeling like half of my soul is across the ocean just…” he sighed. “It’s not fun. I miss you.”

“L-luka,” Marinette sighed, putting her arms around him. He curled around her, squeezing tight. 

“I know it’s only six months,” he sighed. “But right now that feels like a really long time.” 

“I kn-know.” Marinette squeezed him hard. 

“Oh, yeah, I forgot the absence of bone-crushing hugs,” he mumbled. “I miss that too.” 

Now it was Marinette’s turn to sigh. “Ssssix months. Then I’m g-gonna come home to y-you and we’re gonna get married.”

“You sure? No regrets for New York?” Luka asked, searching her face. Marinette shook her head.

“P-paris is my h-home,” she smiled. “It’s always w-where I w-wanted to end up.” Her smile widened to a grin that threatened to split her face in two. “Besides, I have a wwwedding to attend. I’m n-not g-gonna miss it.” 

Luka laughed and threw his arms around her, lifting her off the ground. “I’ve never been so eager to stuff myself into a fancy suit and stand around for hours,” he told her, grinning. “I’m gonna marry the hell out of you.” 

Marinette laughed so hard she shook them both. “Th-that’s nnnot a th-thing, L-luka,” she gasped, when she could get enough air in her lungs to speak. 

“Watch me, babe. You’re gonna be so married you won’t know what hit you.”

“L-luka!” she complained, wheezing with laughter.

Luka’s phone beeped a warning and he sighed, the joy sliding away. “That’s my cue.” 

Marinette came up on her toes and Luka bent down to meet her, and they shared one last tender kiss before she pushed him gently towards the security line. “I l-love you,” she said. “I’ll c-come h-home t-to you, I p-p-p-promise.” She covered her mouth as the tears started in her eyes. 

Luka reversed the few steps he had taken and swept her up again. “Aw, babe, I’m never gonna be able to leave if you cry.” 

“I’m n-not c-crying,” she said bravely, pushing him without much conviction. “Now g-go, I’m c-counting on you to mmake sure everything is r-ready for us when I g-get home.” 

Luka kissed her hands, and turned to walk quickly away. 

* * *

Luka had never wanted to play a set so little in his life. Marinette was coming home in—he glanced at the time—21 hours, they were getting married in ten days, and he was losing his damn mind. Performing should have been a welcome distraction, but he just...couldn’t seem to care about it the way he should. He tuned his guitar on autopilot, glancing at the clock again.

“Get your head in the game, bro,” Juleka advised him, busy on her phone. 

“Yeah, that’s not gonna happen,” he answered absently. “My head’s not even in the country. God, I wish I’d been able to talk her into eloping while we were in New York.”

“As if you’d be any better right now if you’d been separated from your _ wife _ for months instead of your fiancée,” Juleka snorted.

Luka grunted, thumb idly moving the cheap steel wedding band he wore at shows around on his finger. He played a simple warm up on the guitar and sighed, setting it down and running the fingers of both hands through his hair with a whine.

“Ugh, why can’t it be over already,” he complained. 

“You can make it through one more show,” Juleka told him without sympathy. “Come on, Luka, you were lucky as hell to even get this gig and you know it. Act like a professional for once in your life.”

“I’m not a professional, I’m an artist,” he muttered.

Juleka rolled her eyes. “Nice, now you sound like Mom.” 

Luka sighed. “You’re right. Okay, you’re right, I gotta do this, I can’t tank this performance.”

Juleka got up and came over to sit next to him, rubbing one hand along his shoulders. “I don’t get it, bro, why are you so freaked? You’ve been waiting for this for months. I get being nervous and excited, but you’re falling to pieces here.”

“I just want her to get here already,” Luka muttered. “I didn’t want her to go in the first place, and I guess—I don’t know, I’m scared something’s going to happen to put it off.”

“They offered her an extended contract, and she turned it down,” Juleka reminded him. “I know, you don’t really think she’s going to change her mind now.” 

“No?” Luka said uncertainly, and then sighed. “I know she won’t, and I’m scared anyway. Is that weird?”

“Not for me,” Juleka shrugged. “I worry about shit that I know won’t happen all the time.”

Luka couldn’t help smiling at that and reached out with one arm to pull her against him in a hug. 

“Anyway, you can stop worrying,” Juleka said, checking her phone again. “Because she’s outside the door right now.”

Luka didn’t register that immediately, already spiraling off into another anxious rumination with one thumbnail in his mouth. Juleka rolled her eyes and got up, walked across the room, and stood by the door. “Luka,” she said sharply, and he looked up. “What?”

Juleka opened the door and Luka leapt out of his chair, wrestling his guitar strap over his head and trying to run to the door at the same time. He shoved the guitar at Juleka and threw his arms around a very tired-looking Marinette. 

“Hey, rockstar,” she whispered, clinging to him.

“You’re back,” he whispered, and felt his ribs creak as she squeezed him in affirmation.

“I’m b-back,” she promised. “I didn’t want to m-miss your f-first solo performance, so I got an earlier f-flight.”

“But, your ceremony—” Luka pulled back and looked at her. “You’re supposed to be getting an award right now.” 

Marinette shrugged. “They c-can mail it t-to mmme.”

He stared at her. 

“Luka, don’t you dare cry, I am _ not _doing your makeup again,” Juleka warned. 

“Shut up,” Luka said weakly.

One of the event staff knocked. “You’re on in five,” he called.

“That’s y-your c-cue,” Marinette smiled, stepping back and squeezing his hands gently. “Knock ‘em d-dead for m-me. I’ll be w-waiting when you’re d-done.” 

Luka grinned, accepting his guitar back from Juleka. “Alright, Gorgeous,” he sighed dramatically. “Since you asked me to.”

* * *

The weather couldn’t be better. The sun was shining, and there was just enough of a breeze to keep it from being too hot, without doing more than making the decorations hanging from the trees and the rows of white chairs dance cheerfully. 

Luka Couffaine was not thinking about the weather. 

He wasn’t thinking about legal documents, or decorations, or Juleka and Evan standing next to him, or his mother in the front row, or even the damn obnoxious tie he’d been coerced into wearing. 

Luka was thinking about a hot day at the tail end of summer, about a girl with a dancer’s body, big blue eyes, freckles and sweet pink lips, about a bottle of cold water on a hot day. About how a few minutes every Friday had changed his life. He thought about jokes and flirting and wistful looks, about a stunning black dress and a broken heart and tears on his shoulder. He thought about a homemade casserole and madeleines and dawning hope. He thought about first songs and first kisses in a quiet room in the basement of a crotchety old building. He thought about pickup lines at a high top table, about a surprise kiss and weak knees and _ holy shit, Gorgeous _. He thought about muscles and a red dress with black polka dots, and smeared red lipstick. He thought about tender touches, soft kisses, little favors and easy conversations that slowly became indispensable. 

The music started and he jumped slightly. Juleka put a steadying hand on his arm, and he put his hand over hers and squeezed. That made him think about how his family had made him one of their own, and how he had worked his way into hers. 

Then he saw her and for a moment he forgot to think at all. 

They’d come a long way since that hot day when he thought she was cute and she thought he looked hot. Luka could see the girl from that day in the woman in white, but she was so much more than she had been that day, and so was he, and shit, he was going to cry. Juleka’s fingers were digging into his arm but he didn’t dare look at her. The sight of Tom’s mustache twitching as he walked with Marinette, conveying the utter certainty that the big man was going to burst into tears of his own the second Marinette released the death grip she had on his arm, was enough to make a laugh try to bubble up in his throat, saving him from bawling at least at this particular moment in time. 

Then they got nearer and he could see that Marinette’s beautiful eyes were huge in her pale face, and her sweet lips were pressed tight together in a smile that was much too rigid, and if it weren’t for Juleka’s grip on his arm, he would have gone down the aisle to meet her. He waited until she drew even with the first row of chairs, and then no force on earth could have kept him from going to her. 

Marinette kissed Tom’s cheek and reached her hand out to Luka. He caught it quickly before anyone else could see how it shook. He stepped close to her and whispered, “Hey, Gorgeous.”

He saw the change in her immediately. Her smile suddenly softened and she started to breathe again. The scared rabbit look went out of her eyes and her hand still squeezed his tight, but it no longer trembled. Luka’s own smile widened and they took a moment there, steadying themselves and each other. “Ready?” he asked softly, and she nodded, her smile growing to one that radiated happiness. 

They took the last few steps together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And now we are finally at the very, very end. I just want to thank everyone who supported this story both here and on Tumblr; I had no idea it was going to get this big when I started, but I'm pretty happy with it overall, and it tickles me that it brought joy to so many people. Thanks for sticking with me through it all and reading my work!
> 
> See you in the New Year, hopefully, with new stories!

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! You can find me on Tumblr with the same user name.


End file.
